The 30 Day Disneyland Challenge
by shopgirl152
Summary: Two girls. One contest. 30 Days at Disneyland. One ride and only one ride per day. With that kind of restriction, how much trouble could two girls get into at The Happiest Place on Earth? Rated T for language. ON HIATUS.
1. Prologue

**A/N: **So this was my 2009 NANO novel. It's still a work in progress, but I thought I would post some of it up here to see what people think about it. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Prologue**

"I can't believe it! I just can't believe it! We were one day away from winning and then _you_ had to suggest this!"

"Me?! Who says it was my fault?!" Claire paused, shaking her head as if to dislodge some unpleasant thought from it. "Okay, so maybe it was partly _my_ fault—"

"Partly?"

Claire glared at the girl sitting next to her. Here they were, one day away from winning the biggest competition to hit Disneyland, with a grand prize of visiting all the Disney parks in the world, and here they were stuck in the Disneyland security office; busted for one to many contest violations. Not to mention the pranks they had pulled on all the park guests.

"You were the one who suggested we play laser tag," scowled Sheila.

"Oh yeah, like I knew a Disney cast member was hiding behind that trashcan." She rolled her eyes. "Besides, it was your so called _brilliant_ idea to squirt the guests who were standing in line for Splash Mountain _before_ _they even got wet_."

"Hey, it was your idea, not mine; don't go blaming me for something I didn't do."

"It was _not_ my idea."

"Yes it was."

"No, it wasn't."

"Yes it was."

"No it wasn't."

"Yes it was."

"No it was—nevermind." Claire angrily kicked out, hitting nothing but the air in front of her. She pulled her baseball cap down over her eyes, scowling. Why did Sheila always have to drag her into things? Of course, it seemed like a good idea at the time…


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: The Poster**

The period bell shrilled through the hallway, signaling the end of first period as millions of students piled into the hallway, some heading to their lockers, others high – fiving friends and making plans for the upcoming weekend.

Claire sulked to her locker, her head down, the signature baseball cap she always wore concealing her face. She grumbled as she fiddled with the locker combination: "Twenty – five. Thirteen. Twenty – two." She pulled on the door, but to no avail. "Twenty – five. Thirteen. Twenty – two." She tried again, swearing under her breath. "Come on! I'm going to be late for class! Stupid, fucking locker. Open dammit!"

"Hey Claire! What's up?"

Claire looked up, watching as her best friend Sheila casually leaned against the locker next to hers. "Stupid locker won't open again." She tried again, but it was no use; the door still refused to budge.

"Here. Let me try." Sheila casually pushed Claire away, studying the combination lock intently. "Hmmm…She fiddled with the lock, then grinned as the door gently swung open.

"Show – off"

"Grumbler" Sheila smirked, pushing the ball cap down over Claire's eyes.

"Hey!"

Sheila rolled her eyes as she leaned against the locker. "Geez Claire; I was just having a little fun. Lighten up. Seriously, do you always…have…to…be…this…"

"Sheila?" Claire popped her head up from her locker, looking around. "Sheila?" She craned her neck around, finally catching Sheila standing across the way, staring transfixed at something hanging on the wall. She hastily snagged a textbook from her locker before slamming the door shut, walking over to where Sheila was standing. "Sheila, what the he—" she paused, her brain processing what Sheila was staring at. "Oh no." Directly in front of her was a poster advertising the following:

_30 Day Disneyland Challenge_

_Have you dreamt of spending an entire month at Disneyland for virtually nothing? Do you dream of visitng all the Disneyland parks around the world? Well, now's your chance! Just log on to to to find out more._

"Sounds pretty—hey!" Before Claire could even process what was happening, Sheila had her by the hand, dragging her away from the poster. "Sheila, what the hell? Where are we going?!"

"To the computer lab."

"I have class in like two minutes!"

"This is more important!"

"But—but—"

Sheila turned around. "I could drag you there if you want."

Claire signed resignedly, letting go of Sheila's hand. "Alright. Fine. Let's go see what this little Disneyland Challenge of yours is."

* * *

"Okay, here we go." Sheila sat down at one of the lab computers, clicking the internet explorer icon on the screen. She snapped her fingers impatiently. "Come on, come on, come on!"

Claire smirked. "Impatient much?"

"Seriously, why are these lab computers so slow anyway?"

Claire pulled up a chair, sitting down next to Sheila. "It's all the streaming and downloading students do; bogs down the system."

"Yeah," Sheila answered absently, frantically typing the web address into the URL bar. "Okay, here we go."

"Whoa." Claire's eyes widened as a shimmery blue and purple page slowly downloaded onto the screen. The colors flashed in time to fantasy sounding music.

"Okay, here it is." Sheila leaned closer, reading the words on the screen. "Welcome to the thirty day Disneyland challenge. For thirty days, get free admission to the park and free hotel accommodations. Just register on our sight and you'll be on your way."

"What are the rules?"

"Um…rules, rules, rules." Sheila peered at the screen in front of her. "Oh, here we go. Let's see…open to all ages, children must be accompanied by a legal adult or guardian; sign up fee is two–hundred fifty thousand dollars, this will cover the cost of hotel accommodations plus the free admission to the park. Bring the money to the Disneyland hotel on October thirty–first, where you will register for the challenge and be handed the rules.

"Two–hundred fifty thousand dollars," Claire mused. "That's a lot of money."

"Yeah."

"Maybe we shouldn't…Sheila? Sheila, what are you doing? No! Wait!" Claire lunged for Sheila's hand, trying to grab it, but it was to late; the register button had already been pushed.

* * *

"What the hell are you thinking?!" Claire spluttered. "We can't afford that! That's waay to much money!"

"Actually, according to Disneyland standards, two–hundred and fifty thousand dollars is not that bad."

Claire's eyes widened. "Not that bad?! Not that bad?! Sheila, two–hundred fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money!"

Sheila rolled her eyes, pushing the brim of Claire's hat over her eyes. "It's called fundraising doofus. There are enough kids in this school who would give to a fundraiser; all we have to do is come up with a clever way to make money."

"Alright. And how do you propose we do that?" Sheila wriggled her eyebrows. "Oh god; you already have an idea don't you?"

"Yep. So…you in? This could be fun; think about it Claire; in two weeks, we can be off at Disneyland having the time of our lives."

Claire sighed. There was no way she was going to lose this battle. "Fine. I'll help you." She paused. "Besides, it's just fundraising; how bad can it be?"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Cheerleading**

"Come on Claire; let me see."

"No."

"Aww come on; I'm sure it's not that bad."

"It's _all_ bad."

Sheila rolled her eyes, leaning against the sink in the girls bathroom. "Come on Claire; come out of there. Look, I promise I won't laugh."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Claire sighed. "Fine." She opened the stall door, walking out. She paused in front of the mirror studying herself; white tennis shoes; white socks, and a cheerleading uniform with the school's colors of silver and black on it. The only thing missing were the obnoxious pom–poms. She scowled at her reflection. "This is sooo not what I signed up for."

Sheila grasped the side of the sink, dissolving into a fit of giggles. "Wow Claire, you look…welll…"

"Funny? Ridiculous? Livid? I'm heading toward livid right about now."

Sheila composed herself, standing up and walking over to Claire. "Oh come on Claire; it's not that bad. Besides, it's for a good cause."

"Remind me why I agreed to this again?"

"You're my best friend."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah. _That_." She leaned over, snatching her hat out of Sheila's hands.

"Hey! No hat on the field."

Claire scowled. "We're not on the field." She studied her reflection again as Sheila stood beside her. She sighed. "This is sooo not me."

Sheila studied her own reflection in the mirror. "If you ask me, I'd say we look like a couple of hot cheerleaders."

"Grrreeaat." Claire grumbled, jamming her hat onto her head as she made her way out of the bathroom, Sheila behind her. "Come on, let's get this over with."

* * *

Sheila bounded down the bleachers, headed to the field where the football players were practicing for their game Saturday. "Come on Claire! Hurry up!" She turned around, eyeing Claire.

Claire grumbled. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

Sheila hopped off the last bleacher, placing the stereo that was hanging from her wrist on the ground in front of her. She dug in her pocket, finally fishing out her iPod, plugging it into the stereo. She turned the scroll wheel, smiling at the song that appeared on the screen. She turned to Claire. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'm gonna be."

Sheila reached over, grabbing Claire's hat off her head and tossing it onto a nearby bleacher. "Let's do this." She leaned down, hitting the play button on the iPod as the first notes of the song blasted from the stereo. Her and Claire got into position, ticking off the seconds to the first lyric.

We're All in This Together (High School Musical Tribute)

Together, together, together everyone!  
Together, together, come on let's have some fun!  
Together, we're there for, each other, everytime,  
Together, together, come on let's do this right!

Here and now, it's time for celebration,  
We finally figured out,  
Ye-ah!  
That all our dreams,  
Ugh!  
Have no limitations, that's what it's all about!  
Everyone is special in their own way,  
We make each other strong  
(we make each other strong)  
We're not the same, we're different in a good way,  
Together's where we belong!

We're all in this together,  
Once we know who we are are,  
We'll all stars and we see that,  
We're all in this together,  
And it shows, when we stand,  
Hand in hand make our dreams come true!

Claire felt herself smile as she did the moves alongside Sheila, mimicking the moves from the musical perfectly.

That's the way we do it,  
Let's get to it,  
Come on everyone!

Sheila reached out, grabbing Claire's hand and taking a bow as the boys football team whooped and hollered around them.

"Alright!"

"Yeah!"

"Woo!"

"You girls are hot!" Claire felt herself blush at the comment as Sheila let go of her hand, headed over to the guys.

David looked at Sheila, grinning from ear to ear. "To what do we owe this hot little number?"

Sheila smiled, walking her fingers up David's arm. "What you owe this 'hot little number' to is Sheila and Claire. We're raising money; now if you enjoyed the performance, would you please show the love by giving us money. And no, we're not going to perform a strip tease for you."

* * *

"Come on, come on, come on, how much did we make?" Sheila bounced up and down anxiously as she watched Claire sort through the money.

Claire smirked. "Impatient much?"

"I'm serious Claire! How much did we make?"

"Okay, okay. Hang on." She placed the remaining bill on top of the stack. "That 'hot little number…'" she rolled her eyes. "Brought in fifty bucks."

Sheila's face fell as she sank into a nearby chair. "Fifty bucks? That's it? All that dancing and we only made fifty bucks?" She sighed. "Maybe we should just give up."

"Hey, I didn't let myself get dragged into this and dress up in a cheerleading outfit against my better judgment to let you give up. Now come on, where's that spunk you usually have?"

Sheila sighed. "It's gone. Gone with the disappointment of making only fifty bucks."

Claire walked over, giving Sheila's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Come on Sheila, don't give up; we can do this. I know you'll think of something, you usually do." She paused. "Crazy as some of your ideas _are_."

Sheila smirked. "Was that encouragement?"

"Yes."

She chuckled. "Would you look at that; the naysayer is actually giving _me_ encouragement. Who would have thought?"

Claire smirked. "Don't get used to it; it's a rare thing. Now come on Sheila, think. You're the leader; what are we going to do now?"

Sheila drummed her fingers on the table restlessly, thinking. She looked down, only to snap her head back up a second later. "I got it."

"What's that?"

Sheila looked at Claire, a smirk spreading across her face. "If we can make fifty bucks dancing for just the guys on the football team, think how much more we can make if we dance for the entire team, and the large stadium that's bound to fill up to near capacity on Saturday night."

"Oh no."

"Oh yeah."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Football Fun**

"I don't think this is a good idea." Claire peeked around the corner, looking down the breezeway toward the stadium, shivering at the cold wind that blew down it. "Besides, it's cold." She looked down at the cheerleading uniform she once again found herself wearing.

Sheila shrugged, rubbing her arms against the cold. "Don't worry about it; besides, we'll warm up as soon as we start dancing."

"I guess so." Claire shoved her baseball cap down onto her head, hoping to stave off the cold.

"So, you guys ready?" Mitzy, the captain of the cheer squad, walked up to them. "Looks like they're ready out there; it's almost halftime." She peered down the walkway, listening as the sound of cheers filled the stadium.

Sheila grinned. "We're ready, aren't we Claire?"

Claire shrugged. "As ready as I'm gonna be." She looked outside, watching the football players ran down the breezeway, whooping and hollering over their twenty–five to two lead over the opposing team.

Mitzy smiled. "Alright, you guys are up."

"Come on Claire; let's go." Sheila grabbed her pom–poms, practically cartwheeling down the tunnel.

Claire lagged behind, tossing her baseball cap on a nearby chair as she headed out. "Well, let's hope this gets over soon."

Mitzy stood in front of her, blocking her path, holding out two silver and black pom–poms. "Don't forget your pom–poms, _Daniels_," she sneered.

Claire snatched the pom–poms out of Mitzy's hands as she headed out to the field. "Bite me." She groaned inwardly. Mizty, the girl who never gave the time of day to anyone was now letting them cheer in the halftime show. "There has to be a catch," she muttered. "Mitzy isn't _that_ nice."

* * *

"Where have you been?!" Sheila hissed as Claire walked out, getting into position beside her.

"I was grabbing the pom–poms from Mitzy."

"It took you that long?"

"Long story. Anyways…where's the music?"

Sheila turned her head, motioning to a student in one of the press boxes. A few seconds passed before the starting notes of Getcha Head in the Game blared over the loudspeaker.

Claire looked at Sheila in horror. "Sheila! You didn't tell me you switched songs! Oh my god! We can't dance to this!"

"Claire, don't freak on me now. Look, the dance moves are the same; it's just a different song." She got into position. "Oh, by the way, I changed the lyrics a little bit to reflect football."

"What?!"

"Claire, relax. All we're doing is dancing. That's it. Now follow my lead, because here it comes!"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, would you please turn your attention to the field. Two of our students, Claire Daniels and Sheila Beauregard, are going to perform a halftime show for us. They are trying to raise money for a special Disneyland Challenge; if you like what you see, please give a donation to their cause after the game; baskets will be provided. Now, let's give it up for Sheila and Claire!

Getcha Head in the Game (Football version)

We gotta get our, get our, get our heads in the game,  
We gotta get our, get our, get our, heads in the game,  
We gotta get our, get our, get our heads in the game,  
We gotta get our, get our, get our, get our heads in the game,

Let's make sure to get the touchdown,  
Cause when we get it, then the crowd will go wild.  
Second chance gotta grab it and go,  
Maybe this time we'll hit the right goal!

We gotta get our, get our, get our heads in the game,  
We gotta get our, get our, get our, heads in the game,  
We gotta get our, get our, get our heads in the game,  
We gotta get our, get our, get our, get our heads in the game,  
Whoo!

* * *

"What a rush! Did you see that Claire?! They loved us! Oh my gosh, we were great! We should take our show on their road; you know how much more money we could raise if we took our show on the road?!"

Claire chuckled as she followed Sheila down the breezeway. "Slow down Sheila; we still have to make it to Disneyland remember?"

"Yeah." Sheila paused before breaking out into a huge grin. "It would still be cool though."

"Yeah." Claire looked over her shoulder, tossing the black and silver pompoms at Mitzy as she followed Sheila to the bathroom. "Thanks for the pom–poms Mitz; I'll see you around."

* * *

Sheila lurked around behind the bleachers, stalking one of the students who was holding one of the donation baskets. "Brian. Psst! Brian! Over here!"

Brian started, rounding on Sheila before realizing who it was. "Man Sheila, don't do that! You scared me!"

"Really?" Sheila walked over, coyly walking her fingers up Brian's arm. She pouted. "I just wanted to see how much money we made."

"Forget it Sheila; you can look after the stadium has cleared out; I'll bring the basket to you."

"Not even just a little peek? For me?" She gave him a sickening smile.

Brian opened his mouth to say something, then shut it immediately as Claire walked up. He grinned. "Hey Claire."

"Hey Brian. How's it going?"

"Pretty good; how's it going with you?"

"Oh fine." Claire cast a glance toward Sheila. "Is she bothering you?"

Brian nodded. 'Your best friend here was trying to coerce me into letting her look at how much money you guys made."

Claire groaned. "Sheila…"

"What? All I wanted was a little peek." She looked toward Brian. "Just one teensy, weensy peek."

Brian rolled his eyes. "Hate to tell you this Sheila, but that flirting isn't going to work on me; I already told you; you can have the baskets after the stadium has cleared out."

"But—"

"Come on Sheila, let's go." Claire grabbed her friend's hand, hauling her away from Brian. "Thanks Bri; catch you later."

"Bye Claire; see you at practice tomorrow."

Sheila waited until Brian walked off before slapping Claire's hand away. "What was that for?! I almost had him!"

"News flash Sheila; not every guy falls for flirty girls."

"Guys like flirty girls."

"Maybe, but not all guys like girls who are overly flirtatious."

"I'm not overly flirtatious."

Claire shrugged, slamming her hands into the pockets of her jeans before leaning against one of the bleachers. "Whatever you say." She looked down, kicking at a mound of dirt, then snapped her head back up at the sound of footsteps.

Brian walked over to her, handing her the two baskets of money. "Here you go Claire; you girls have a good night; catch you tomorrow at school."

"Thanks Brian." Claire shifted the baskets under her arms, glancing at Sheila. She smirked. "You're pretty quiet all of a sudden."

"I was trying not to be _overly_ _flirtatious_."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah. Come on, let's get this money counted up."

* * *

Sheila leaned over in her seat, watching anxiously as Claire finished counting the rest of the money. "So, how much did we make this time?"

"A grand total of two–hundred and fifty dollars."

Sheila's eyes went wide. "Two–hundred and fifty dollars?! Oh my gosh!" She jumped up from her chair, dancing around the kitchen excitedly. "We just made two-hundred fifty dollars, we just made two–hundred fifty dollars, we just made two–hundred fifty dollars, yeah!"

Claire chuckled. "Calm down Sheila; we still need to raise two–hundred forty-nine thousand, seven–hundred–fifty dollars in order to qualify for this thing."

Sheila stopped dancing. "Kill joy."

Claire shrugged. "I'm just saying; we still have a long way to go." She absently tossed a penny onto the pile of money. "So now what?" Sheila turned toward Claire, grinning mischievously. "Oh god, what?"

"We could still take our show on the road…"

"_No_."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: We're Going to the Top!**

"Aww, come on Claire; you don't want to take our show on the road? We could be big!"

Claire smirked, pushing her baseball cap up with her thumb. "Based on the fact that I have now been a cheerleader twice, _both_ times against my better judgment, I'm going to say no."

Sheila huffed, throwing herself into one of the chairs. "Fine. So now what? Halloween's in two weeks!"

"Yeah." Claire looked out the window, absently tapping her fingers on the table. "Maybe we should just give up."

"What?!" Sheila's eyes widened in horror. "I did not sign us up so we could give up so easily; I refuse to give up! We can do this; we just need to figure out how." She jumped out of the chair, pacing back and forth. "We can do this, but…how?" She paced some more, faster this time. "Wait! I got it!" She scurried back over to the table. "Hey Claire?"

"Yeah?"

"When's Homecoming?"

"Um…end of this week, I think." She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well…the different sports teams and clubs hold fundraisers sometimes right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what if we charged admission to Homecoming? We could tell people we're doing it for a fundraiser." Her eyes lit up. "I bet we'd make more money that way; or make it faster at least."

Claire's eyes widened. "We can't charge money for Homecoming!"

"Why not?"

"Because Homecoming is a free event open to all the students. Besides, the only people who do fundraisers, official fundraisers anyway, are the certified clubs and sports teams. A) we don't have an official club, so that wouldn't work and b) even if we did decide to fundraise and were allowed to, the money would go to the school, not us." She paused. "Besides, what are we going to do? Go to the Dean of Students?" Sheila leaned across the table, wiggling her eyebrows mischievously. "Oh no."

"Ohhh yeah."

* * *

Claire sat in the chair outside the Dean of Students office waiting to be called in. She thumped her hand against her hat, jiggling her knee up and down. "This is a _bad_ idea."

"Relax Claire; it's just the Dean of Students; it's not like he's some cold – hearted monster or something. We'll be just fine." She looked down, slamming her hand on top of Claire's knee. "And stop jiggling your knee up and down like that; it's making me seasick."

Claire glared at her. "Can't help it; I do it when I'm nervous. It's _habit_."

"Well, stop worrying; we'll be just fine. Trust me."

"Last time I did that, I wound up in a cheerleader uniform. _Twice_."

Sheila chuckled, then looked down at Claire's leg. She smirked. "Geez; you're as bad as Thumper from Bambi."

Claire looked up, smirking. "Is that my new nickname?"

Sheila smirked back, pushing the baseball cap down over Claire's eyes. "No."

"Sheila? Claire?" Miss. Price poked her head around the computer she was typing on. "Mr. Larson will see you now."

Sheila rolled her eyes as Claire's leg jiggled faster and faster. "Oh my god Claire; stop being so nervous. I'm telling you, we'll be fine." She stood up, helping Claire to her feet. "Deep breaths. Now, come on."

Sheila walked into Mr. Larson's office, studying the room; everywhere there seemed to be plants. In front of her, sitting behind a large wood desk, was Mr. Larson himself. He smiled as Sheila walked over to the front of the desk.

"Ah, Sheila, Claire, come in. Have a seat." He motioned to the chairs in front of the desk, then smiled, steepling his fingers in front of him as Sheila and Claire sat down. "Now, what can I do for you today? I assume you have a reason for coming to see me?"

"Well, sir," Sheila started. "The reason we're here is because we're trying to raise money for a thirty day Disneyland challenge."

"Ah yes; I've heard about your attempts to raise money. I hear you put on quite a show." He chuckled, causing Claire to blush.

"Yes sir. We've already raised two–hundred and fifty dollars."

"We need to raise two–hundred, forty–nine thousand, seven–hundred fifty dollars more," Claire spoke up, her apprehension dissolving a bit.

"And how do you intend to raise this money?"

"Well, that's why we came here," Sheila stated. "We were wondering if it was possible to charge admission for Homecoming. We could tell everyone that we're having a fundraiser."

Mr. Larson shook his head, shooting the girls a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry girls, but school policy states that you have to either have a) a valid reason for a fundraiser, or b) you have to be part of a sport's team or club. Now, while I am sure there are plenty of people in this school who would support a cause like yours, I'm afraid the school board doesn't see it that way. I'm sorry."

"Oh." Sheila looked at the floor, feeling dejected. "Okay. Thank you for your time Mr. Larson. Come on Claire." Claire got up, following Sheila towards the door. She was just about to place her foot over the threshold when she heard Mr. Larson cough.

"Of course, there is one way you can charge for Homecoming."

Sheila poked her head back into the room, following Claire as she stood before the desk. "And what is that?"

"Well, if you really want to raise money for this Disneyland Challenge of yours, you can always create a club. All you need is a minimum of four people and you have to have me certify the club. Now, since you've already talked to me, if you promise you can pull this off, I'll certify you now. All you have to do is come up with a name for your club and get the required four person minimum." He smiled. "How does that sound?"

"That sounds great!" Sheila beamed. "Oh thank you so much Mr. Larson! This means a lot to us!"

Mr. Larson smiled as he opened a desk drawer, digging out a form. "You're very welcome." He grabbed a pen from a container on his desk, holding it over the form. "Now, what name would you like for your club?"


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Disney Geeks Unite!**

"Sheila, are you sure this is going to work?" Claire paused, her paintbrush dangling over a poster that lay on the ground in front of her. She studied it. "What do you think?"

Sheila walked over, reading the poster over Claire's shoulder. "Are you a fellow Disney geek? Do you talk about anything Disney for hours on end? If this is you, then come join our Disney Geeks United Club. Thursdays at three–thirty in the study room." She gave Claire's shoulder a squeeze. "Looks good to me."

"Thanks." Claire stood up, wiping the remaining paint on her jeans as she walked over to the other side of the kitchen, placing the poster next to three others that were leaning against the wall. She turned back to Sheila. "You didn't answer my question; are you sure this is going to work?"

Sheila walked over, studying the posters. "Nope. Let's try not to think about it. This could be our last chance."

"Agreed."

* * *

Sheila poked her head out of the study room door, anxiously scanning the hallways. She looked behind her, checking the clock on the wall: three–thirty. She sighed. "I don't think anyone's coming Claire."

Claire walked over to her, peering out the door. "It's only just now three–thirty; classes are still getting out; people are walking to their cars; mingling; getting stuff out of their lockers. Give it time."

Sheila sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. What time is it now?"

"Three–thirty two."

Sheila sighed, then started as Mitzy waltzed through the door.

Claire's jaw dropped. "Oh my god; are you fucking kidding me?"

"Claire!" Sheila stepped over to Mitzy. "I apologize for my friend here. Welcome to Disney Geeks United."

Mitzy smiled at Sheila, casting a death glare at Claire the moment Sheila's back was turned. She sauntered over to Claire, circling her like a vulture.

Claire scowled. "What the hell are you doing here? You're no Disney geek."

"No, you're right. But, I thought what a quaint idea."

"Bullshit," Claire snarled through gritted teeth. "Seriously, what's the real reason you're here?"

Mitzy hopped up onto a nearby desk. "Stupid cheerleading coach wants me to join extracurricular activities." She studied her manicured nails. "So I figured, what the hell?"

Claire was about to say something when Brian entered the room. She smirked at Sheila's reaction, watching as Sheila practically melted into the floor. She walked over, glad for a distraction. "Hey Brian."

Brian smiled at Claire, nodding. "Hey Claire." He looked around. "Some club you've got here. Who else is joining up?"

"Not sure. Not everyone's here yet." Sheila smiled sweetly at Brian. "Except for me."

"Hey!"

Sheila shook her head. "Claire too."

"Great." Brian looked over at Mitzy. He nodded. "Hey Mitzy."

"Hey Brian." She walked over, talking in a flirty voice that was worse than Sheila's. "So…what brings you here?"

"Well, I'm a bit of a closet Disney geek. This club seemed cool, so I thought what the heck?" He looked over at Claire, grinning from ear to ear.

* * *

Fifteen minutes passed by and still no more people showed up. Claire lingered in the back, occasionally scowling at Mitzy, while Sheila tried her hardest to impress Brian. To no avail.

"So…Brian, how's track and field going? Claire says you're a natural runner." She looked at his bulging leg muscles. "I bet you eat up the track."

"I'm pretty good, but Claire beats me most of the time. Usually by a fraction of a second."

Claire chuckled, walking over. "Well…I am known as the female jock of the school."

"Man, you do better than half the guys out there."

"Oh, it's nothing much. Really." She turned to Sheila. "Uh…Sheila? It's almost four. I hate to say it, but I don't think anybody else is going to show. Want to explain the purpose of this club and what we're trying to do?"

"Oh. Yeah." Sheila got up from the chair she was sitting in, making her way to the front of the room. "Hello everyone and welcome to Disney Geeks United! This is a club for the Disney geek in all of us, whether you're a little bit of a Disney geek, or a huge Disney geek. As for day to day activities, we'll be having Disney trivia challenges, watching Disney movies, and if we can afford it, hopefully a few Disney trips along the way. However, our latest endeavor—"

"And the reason we're all here," Claire smirked.

Sheila shot her a death glare. "Anyway, I know this is the first day of the club, but I would like to propose a fundraiser. And here's why." She held up the poster advertising the thirty day Disneyland challenge. "On this poster is the greatest competition to ever hit Disneyland; a thirty day challenge in which you get into the park free for thirty days, with free hotel accommodations."

Mitzy studied her nails before looking up. "And the reason for needing the money if it's free is…?"

"That's the difficult part," Claire stepped up next to Sheila. "After you register on the site, you have to raise two–hundred and fifty thousand dollars by Halloween. The money is to cover the cost of the hotel accommodations and the free admission to the park."

"So, technically, it's not free."

Claire fought down a retort. "Technically yes. But, we have already raised two–hundred and fifty dollars on our own, leaving us to raise—"

"Two–hundred forty–nine thousand, seven–hundred–fifty dollars," Brian piped up.

Claire beamed. "Exactly! Now, we talked to the Dean of Students about raising the rest of the money and he told us that if we created a club, we would be allowed to charge admission to Homecoming. We just need you two to support us."

"What's in it for us?" Mitzy asked.

"An all expense paid trip to all five of the Disneyland parks around the world!" Sheila held her hands out in excitement.

"Sounds exciting," Mitzy replied in a bored tone, filing her nails.

"I like it!" Brian smiled at the idea. "How much we gonna charge?"

"Oh my god; you're like, going to go with this idea Brian? You can't be serious." Mitzy walked over to him, hands on her hips.

"Aww, come on Mitz; I think a Disneyland adventure would be fun." He studied her, looking her up and down. "Besides, you could use a break from cheerleading. Get that attitude out of your system."

"Hmph. I do not have an attitude."

Claire rolled her eyes, deciding to get back to the subject. "Anyways, Brian, we figured that if charged five dollars each, if fifty thousand people show up, then we're in."

"Is the two–hundred and fifty thousand dollars for one person, two people, or a group?"

"Um…" Sheila and Claire looked at each other. "Gee, we have no idea."

"Didn't think to check that," Claire answered. "Hang on." She walked over to a nearby desk, fishing her computer out of her backpack and turning it on. She smiled at the group. "We'll know in a minute." She rubbed her hands together as the familiar, shimmery, blue and purple web page loaded onto the screen. "Okay, here we go." She clicked on the rule button. "Okay, it looks like it's two–hundred fifty thousand dollars for teams of two; you just have to register separately, which is why we didn't catch it the first time." She looked at Sheila, smirking. "Somebody was a little quick on the button pushing the first time around."

Sheila rolled her eyes, turning back to the people before her. "So guys, what do you think? You in?"

Brian looked at Claire, smiling. "I'm game; sounds like fun."

"Well, it's not my idea of fun," spoke up Mitzy, hopping off the desk she was sitting on. "I have better things to do than trying to earn two–hundred and fifty thousand dollars for some stupid Disney thing." She flipped her hair over her shoulder before heading out the door. "See ya."

Sheila stood dumbfounded as Mitzy left the room. "But…but…we need all four club members in order to pull this off; otherwise we can't sell tickets to Homecoming!"

Brian got up, looking at Sheila. He smiled. "Don't worry Sheila; I'll go talk to her. I'm sure you'll be fine." He winked at her as he left the room. "Catch you guys later."

Sheila watched him go before practically melting into the floor. "Did you see that?! He winked at me! I-I I think he likes me!"

Claire patted her on the shoulder, fighting back an amused smirk. "I'm sure he does."

Sheila shot her a look, then looked toward the door nervously. "Do you think he can convince Mitzy to stay on?"

"I wouldn't worry about it; Brian's a pretty smooth talker; I'm sure he'll be able to convince her to stay."

"I hope so." Sheila turned to Claire, grinning. "Of course, Brian's just a smooth talker to other girls; with me it's sincerity." She paused. "Right?"

"Of course."

* * *

"So I decided to stay on with Disney Geek United." Claire poked her head out of her locker, trying not to smirk at a rationalizing Mitzy. "I mean…" She did a double take. "Oh god." She sneered. "Sorry Claire; I thought you were Sheila. I meant to talk to _her_.

Claire fought back a smirk. "You can tell me; I'll give her the message."

Mitzy made a face. "I mean, I guess when I think about it, I could use some Disney…fun." She scrunched up her nose, acting as if the word Disney left a bad taste in her mouth.

Claire slammed her locker shut, grinning with amusement. "Extracurriculars biting you in the ass there Mitz? I know that's the only reason you're staying on. It's either drop the club and kiss cheerleading good–bye, or stay on, much to your annoyance, where you'll be able to keep your precious captain of the cheerleading squad position, which I know you treasure _oh so much_."

Mitzy glowered at her. "One more word Daniels, just one more word and I'll—"

"You'll do what? Go running to your precious cheerleading squad? Because you know, they can't help you here; you're stuck with us."

"Hmph. At least I'll have Brian to talk to. And Sheila. She's nice, unlike you, you little b–i–t –"

Claire smirked. "Would you look at that? You can spell. Good for you." She fought back a laugh at the confused look on Mitzy's face.

"One more word Claire Daniels, just one more word." Mitzy huffed, looking Claire up and down. "Take that hat off, you look like a boy."

Claire smirked. "Oooo yeah. Now _there's_ one I haven't heard before." She rolled her eyes as Mitzy walked off. "Stupid bi—"

"What was that all about?"

Claire turned to see Sheila standing next to her locker. "Oh nothing; Mitzy was just telling me that she's decided to stay with Disney Geeks United."

Sheila's eyes lit up. "Really?!"

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Someone's excited."

"Claire! Do you have any idea what this means?!"

"You're not going to make me dress up as a cheerleader anymore?"

"No! Well…yeah, but…oh my gosh! We can sell tickets to Homecoming! All we need is fifty thousand people to pay five bucks each and we're in!"

"If we're lucky."

Sheila rolled her eyes, snatching Claire's hat off her head. "Got your hat."

"Hey! Give it back!"

"Not until you stop being a pessimist." She smirked. "You have to agree with me."

"Okay fine. Homecoming is going to be great; we're going to raise two–hundred and fifty thousand dollars and then some, and we're going to go to Disneyland and have a fucking good time. Can I have my hat back now?"

"Yes." Sheila handed the hat back to Claire. "See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?"


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: Ticket Selling**

"Tickets! Tickets! Get your Homecoming tickets here! Only five bucks a pop!" Sheila stood in the hallway, flagging down the students on their way to class. "Tickets to Homecoming, only five bucks! Sign up now so you'll be sure to get a seat!"

Claire watched with amusement from the card table she was sitting at. She peered into the basket on the corner of the table. Twenty–five tickets sold so far. Still a long way to go. But, with Sheila's enthusiasm, they just might make it to two–hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

"One ticket please."

Claire looked up at the huge linebacker standing before her. "Hey Bryce. Come to buy your Homecoming ticket huh?" She pushed the sign up sheet toward him.

Bryce shrugged. "I'm only buying this for my girlfriend; she said she'd come to the game if I did." He smiled, handing the clipboard back to Claire. "I don't need a ticket; I'm playing in the game."

Claire smiled. "So you are. Here's your ticket; tell Bess I said hi."

"I will. Thanks Daniels."

Claire peered into the basket again. "Well, that's twenty–six now." She counted on her fingers. "Only forty–nine thousand, nine–hundred seventy–four tickets left to sell." She surveyed the roll of tickets sitting next to her. "We have plenty of those." She felt herself smile. "Sheila's crazy scheme just might work for once." She looked up as a girl walked over to the table. "Hey Patty. How's it going?"

"Going great Claire." She peeked into the basket. "Wow; you've sold a lot so far." She looked over at Sheila, who was now dancing in the hallway, trying to attract attention. She giggled. "This is some operation you go here."

Claire smiled. "Sure is; you here to buy a ticket?"

"Anything to help the Disney Club. " She paused to write her name on the clipboard Claire handed her. "Was thinking of joining the club myself actually; this thirty day challenge you guys are raising money for sounds like a blast."

"You should join then."

Patty smiled as she handed the clipboard back. "Maybe in the next week or so; I don't have enough money for the challenge and my extracurricular activities are out of control."

"Got a lot of them huh?"

"Yeah. Extracurriculars look good on a college application." She checked her watch. "Ooo, gotta run; debate club starts in five minutes! See ya later Claire."

"Bye Patty. Thanks for buying a ticket." She smirked playfully. "The Disney Geeks United Club thanks you." She smiled as the sound of Patty's laughter reached her ears. She looked over at Sheila, who was now performing cheers down the hallway. Claire laughed out loud. "That's Sheila for you; everything always has to be over the top."

* * *

Claire looked at her watch; tapping it impatiently as the last few students exited the school building. They had sold tickets this morning; during free period; during lunch and now, they were just catching the last of the wayward students who were wearily making their way to their cars. "Come on Sheila…" Claire checked her watch again; three thirty–five now. "Come on Sheila, where—AH!" She let out a bloodcurdling shriek as something grabbed her from behind. She whipped around, only to find the school mascot behind her. "Oh. Hi Clarissa. Nice outfit; did you have to scare me like that?"

The mascot took off its head, revealing the person underneath. "Nope! It's not Clarissa; it's me!" Sheila grinned from ear to ear.

"Geez Sheila! You scared the shit out of me!" Claire looked her friend up and down. "How in the world did you manage to score the mascot costume? Better yet…wait. I don't want to know."

Sheila gave her a confused look. "I asked Clarissa if I could borrow it; there's no game until Homecoming this Friday, so she let me have it. Taught me how to walk in it during lunch and everything."

"Ohhhh…that's why you were late for lunch."

"Yep! Mascot training!" Sheila eyed the basket Claire was holding.

"Let me guess; you want to know how much money we made and how many tickets we sold, right?"

"Yep!"

Claire rolled her eyes. "Of course. For your information, I stopped counting around seventy–five." Sheila's eyes widened. "Now, if you'll take off that mascot costume, I'll meet you at my car and we can see if we have enough to get us to Disneyland."

* * *

Claire opened her car door, sliding inside, dumping the contents of the basket on the back seat. She groaned as a few tickets floated under the seat. "Shit. Why did I do that?" She leaned over, feeling under the seat for the wayward tickets. "Dammit; out of reach." She got out of the car, searching frantically. "Ahhh…here we are; I think that's it."

"Okay, I'm re—" Sheila stopped in her tracks, noticing Claire bending over, searching under the seat. "Um…Claire?"

Claire looked over her shoulder. "Oh. Hi, Sheila; I uh…decided to dump the tickets on the backseat." She paused as she straightened up. "Heh; didn't think about the fact that they might float under the seat."

"Oh Claire. You didn't."

Claire smirked. "Don't worry about it; I got the tickets." She held up the three tickets she had found under the seat. "See?"

"Still…we should check again. You know, just in case. Here." She gently pushed Claire aside, feeling around underneath the seat, before placing her head fully down on the floor of the backseat, feeling around some more. She emerged a few seconds later. "Okay, I think we're good."

"I told you." Sheila rolled her eyes as she climbed over to the other side of the backseat. Claire climbed in on the other side, making sure all the tickets were accounted for. "Okay, let's count these babies; you got the clipboard?"

Sheila grinned. "Right here. Three pages of names it looks like."

"Okay, I'll start counting the money; you count the names."

"Deal."

* * *

"Done!" Sheila held up the clipboard triumphantly, then brought it down, writing the final name count down on the top.

"Just a second." Claire counted under her breath, doling out the one dollar bills on top of the pile in front of her. "One, two, three…okay, done!" She looked at Sheila. "Ready to hear how much we made?"

"Yep!"

Claire smirked. "Are you really, really, really ready? Because, you know, if you're not, I could wait and tell you tomorrow—"

"Claire!"

Claire burst out laughing. "Okay, okay. No more suspense. Drumroll please." Sheila drummed her hands on the back of the seat. "And the grand total is…wait for it…two–hundred, forty–nine thousand and seven–hundred, fifty dollars! We add that to the total of two–hundred and fifty dollars and we have—"

Sheila squealed "Two–hundred and fifty thousand dollars!" She leaped across the seat, hugging Claire. "Forty–nine thousand, nine hundred and fifty people bought tixs, so it adds up!" She pulled away, looking at Claire, beaming. "We're going to Disneyland!"


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Representing the Club**

"Represent? What are you talking about?" It was the next day at school and Sheila looked at Claire quizzically. "What do you mean represent? We have the money; I say we go home and pack right now!"

Claire crossed her arms, looking at Sheila with amusement. "Look, I'm just as excited as you are that we raised the required two–hundred fifty thousand dollars, but I was reading the club rules on the school's website last night and if your club sells tickets to any kind of school even, you're required to make an appearance to represent your club. We don't have to do a thing except show up."

"What about Mitzy and Brian?"

"I talked to Brian online last night and he said he would pass the word on the Mitzy." Claire paused, thinking. "Which isn't that big a deal now that I think about it. I mean, Mitzy's the captain of the cheer squad, so she'd be at the game anyway." She shrugged. "Oh well. Even so, you and I have to be there; after tomorrow night, we can go pack. Deal?"

Sheila sighed resignedly. "Okay." She looked at Claire, her face lighting up. "But after that, I'm going home and packing!"

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen, would you please give it up for our very own football team!!" The crowd went wild as the football players took to the field, whooping, hollering, high–fiving and chest bumping each other.

"Come on Claire; I think I found us a seat!" Sheila looked behind her, making sure Claire was there, before picking her way across the bleachers. "Excuse me, excuse me, pardon me, sorry. Excuse me. Ahhh…there we go." Sheila sat down, patting the seat next to her. "Come on Claire; stop being so slow." She smirked.

Claire picked her way across the bleacher, coming to sit next to Sheila. She pulled her hat down over her eyes, pulling up the collar on her jacket to stave off the cold. "Ugh. It's freezing."

Sheila smirked. "Hey, you were the one who said we had to come to the game so we could represent Disney Geeks United. Don't go complaining to me, because for once, this isn't my fault; I didn't make you do anything."

"Yeah, I know."

Sheila wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck, before producing a thermos and two cups. She twisted off the top of the thermos, pouring hot, steaming liquid into both cups. She held one out to Claire. "Hot cocoa? It'll warm you up."

"Thanks." Claire took the mug, blowing on the liquid to cool it.

Sheila smiled as she took a sip of the hot liquid. "Ahhh. So, how long do we have to stay here in order to qualify for representation?"

"Not long. With this cold, I'm fine if we leave after halftime; we just have to make sure we talk to Brian and Mitzy before we leave."

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen, would you please turn your attention to the field for our halftime show? The cheerleaders are going to perform their routine for you." The crowd waited patiently while the cheerleaders lined up, erupting into applause as the music started.

"Come on; that's our cue." Claire stood up, picking her way over people, out of the bleachers.

Sheila started, putting the cups away and screwing the lid on her thermos before getting up and following Claire out of the bleachers. "Where we going?"

"Down to the field; I figure if we meet Mitzy there, we can tell her about the money we raised and…._shit_." She stopped abruptly, holding onto the rail as Sheila unexpectantly slammed into the back of her. "Okay, ow."

"Sorry. What's wrong? Why'd you say shit?"

"Because…we raised our two–hundred fifty thousand dollars, but we never asked Brian and Mitzy if they wanted to go in on it with us, or even if they sold any tickets."

"Oh no! What if they didn't?"

Claire took a deep breath before jogging down the bleachers, headed for the entrance to the walkway. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

* * *

"Hey guys. What's the rush?" Brian walked over to Claire as her and Sheila came running up to him.

"Brian. Did you…did you manage to raise the two–hundred fifty thousand dollars you needed to enter the Disneyland challenge?" Claire asked, slightly panicked.

Brian raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Why? Something wrong?"

"Well, we…" Sheila started. She did a double take, staring at Brian. "Wait…how'd you know we'd be down here?"

"Claire text me, telling me to meet you guys down here. Again, what's up?"

"Well, it suddenly occurred to us that if you and Mitzy didn't raise the money, you couldn't enter the competition and well…the school might pull our funds."

Brian laughed. "Oh that? Nah, we got it covered; Mitzy's family is rich; she just asked her Dad for a loan. So…is that all you came down here for?"

Claire paused, thinking. "Well…no….we—"

Sheila smiled sweetly at Brian, her flirting instincts kicking in. "Well, now that we know you have the money…are we going to see you on the thirty first?" She went to walk her fingers up Brian's arm, but he jerked it away.

"Stop it Sheila; I told you, it won't work." He paused. "But, to answer your question, yes. Both me and Mitzy will see you on the thirty–first." He turned to Claire, grinning, "If you can tell us why we're meeting you on the thirty–first. And where."

Claire snapped her fingers. "I knew there was something else! Okay, October thirty–first (next week), is when you have to check into the hotel and register that you've showed up and have the money. I believe we're staying at the Disneyland hotel. So, meet us there on the thirty–first and we'll see you for check–in." Claire smiled, looking turned the field. "Um…we were going to tell Mitzy—"

"I'll tell her when she comes back." Brian smiled. "So, see you girls next week. This is going to be fun."

"Yep, see you next week." Claire waved before grabbing Sheila by the elbow and walking out of the stadium.

Sheila looked over her shoulder, waiting until Brian was out of earshot before rounding on Claire. "You had Brian's number and you didn't even tell me?!"


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Packing and Talking**

"I cannot believe that you've had Brian's cell number this whole time and you didn't even tell me," Sheila grumbled into the phone. "I mean, who does that?" She smirked. "Some friend you are."

Claire held the phone away from her ear, sticking her tongue our before placing the phone back to her ear. "Yeah, love you too."

"So…can I have his number?"

Claire sighed as she walked over to her closet, heaving a suitcase out of it. "I don't know Sheila; here's an idea—oof!"

Sheila looked at the phone. "Claire, you alright?"

"Ugh. Yeah, I'm fine. Just lugged my suitcase out of the closet. Kind of forgot how heavy it was. So…you all packed yet?"

"Not yet, I—hey! Don't change the subject!"

"_Fine_."

"So…can I have Brian's number?"

Claire popped the latches on the suitcase, throwing it open on her bed, before heading to her dresser. "No."

"No?! You're honestly going to tell me no? But—"

"Sheila, I know you like Brian, I really do, but here's an idea…if you want his number, _ask him_. Or…like I said before, drop a note in his locker telling him you like him. Or, better yet, drop a note in his locker _asking_ for his number."

Sheila grumbled as she pulled her own suitcase out of the closet cupboard. "You're really not going to give me his number, are you?"

"Look, it's really not my place. Brian's my friend and we talk a lot during track and field practice, so he gave me his number, It's not like we're buddy–buddy or anything; I don't talk to him all that much. If I call him for anything, it's usually for math homework or some other reason. Like texting him tonight to meet us down on the field. That's all; it's not like I call him to chat." She smiled. "I do that with you. Long story short, you want his number, ask him. If he gives the okay, then you'll get his number anyway; if he says no—"

"Oh, let's not talk about that."

Claire rolled her eyes as she set a t-shirt down on the bed. "Alright."

Sheila tossed her suitcase on the bed, throwing it open, then walking over to her closet, digging around in it. "Okay, how about this; let's talk about why you hate Mitzy so much."

Claire scowled into the phone. "How about we don't."

"Oh come on Claire; both you and Mitzy have this animosity toward each other. It's totally obvious and don't even think I haven't noticed it, because I have."

Claire sighed, rummaging in the closet as she dug out an extra pair of jeans and a long sleeved t–shirt. "Look, all I'm saying it that I find it slightly suspicious that the one girl who never gives us the time of day during school hours suddenly decides to acknowledge our existence and let us cheerlead during halftime at the football game a couple weeks ago."

Sheila raised an eyebrow as she grabbed a pair of sneakers, throwing them on top of the clothes she had piled on the bed. "Mitzy's not all that bad, you know. I mean, sure, she occasionally cops an attitude—"

"Occasionally?"

Sheila rolled her eyes. "But she can be nice. I mean, she was nice enough to let us cheerlead."

Claire grumbled. "Wanna bet she was laughing at us the whole time we were doing that routine?" She walked over, picking a pair of socks off the floor, scrunching her nose at the smell before tossing them in the direction of the clothes hamper. "I'll bet you anything she was."

"Claire, stop being so negative. If you don't like her, then don't talk to her."

Claire threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "Well, that's impossible now, isn't it? She's part of Disney Geeks United and she's going to be at the Disneyland Challenge with us, so avoiding her is kind of pointless don't ya think?"

"Okay, first of all, yes, Mitzy is part of the Disney Geeks United Club and yes, we will be in the same hotel, but Disneyland is so full of people; there's a good chance we won't see her at all during the day, when we're at the park. And second of all, she's only joining the club so she can stay on as Captain of the Cheer Squad; as soon as the semester's over, and her extracurricular requirement is completed, she'll be gone, so stop worrying."

Claire sighed resignedly. "Yeah, I guess you're right." She leaned over, rolling up the last pair of socks before stuffing them neatly into her shoes and closing the suitcase. "Well, I'm all packed; how about you?"

Sheila stared at the mess of clothes and shoes that were piled on her bed. She leaned over, tossing them aside until she found her suitcase. She looked from the clothes to the suitcase, slamming the clothes inside. "Just about. Hang on." She set the phone down on the bed, sitting on top of her suitcase, just barely managing to latch the bulging bag. She jumped off the bed, picking the phone up. "All packed!"

"You had to sit on top of your suitcase in order to close it again, didn't you?"

Sheila smirked into the phone. "Don't judge me."

Claire smiled. "I never do. So…see you tomorrow for the big day then?"

"Yep! See you tomorrow."

"Bye Sheila."

"Bye Claire." Sheila went to hang up the phone, before remembering something. "Oh! Claire!"

"Yeah?"

Sheila stared at the phone. "You didn't hang up yet?"

"No. Thought I'd see how long it took you to remember that we haven't finalized anything yet."

"Oh. So…what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"I'll pick you up."

"Okay. Hey, do we have to be there by a certain time?"

"Um…good question. Let me check. Hang on." Claire put the phone down, sitting down at her computer and opening the familiar shimmery blue and purple web page. She scanned the rules before picking the phone back up. "It doesn't say, but I'm guessing getting there early might be better than getting there late."

"Yeah…" Sheila grinned. "Maybe if we register early; we'll get some special Disney perk!"

"Maybe…" Claire trailed off, thinking. "I hate to say this, but I think we should try to leave by seven. That would put us there around nine. I think that's early enough for check in. Besides, I didn't read anything on the site about whether we check into the hotel first or whether we register first. I'm assuming we register first, since we have to give them the money and everything."

"You have the money right?"

"Yep. Got it right here." Claire looked turned her suitcase. "So, I'll pick you up by seven tomorrow morning?"

"Yep. Sounds good."

"Okay. Bye Sheila. Again."

Sheila smirked. "Bye Claire." She clicked off the phone before heading into the bathroom. "Now, where did I put that toiletry bag?"


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Driving to the Disneyland Hotel**

Sheila paced outside her house, looking at her watch: six fifty–five. Five minutes. Yawning, she looked at the luggage that was sitting on the walkway; everything was in order. She peered down the street, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to stave off the cold. "Come on Claire; hurry up. I'm freezing!" She jumped as her phone rang, grabbing it out of her purse. Claire's name flashed on the screen. "Claire, where are you?"

Claire chuckled, her voice muffled by the blue tooth device clipped to her ear. "And you tell me to relax? It's only six fifty–seven; I'm pulling onto your street. You have everything?"

"Yep. A month's worth of clothes, books and, of course, my computer."

"Great. Pulling up your street now; see you in like two seconds." Claire clicked off before Sheila had a chance to properly say good–bye.

A smile spread across Sheila's face as Claire's brown clunker of a van pulled up parallel to the driveway. She walked over as Claire jumped out of the vehicle, giving her a hug. She surveyed the van. "You sure your old van is stable enough to get us to Disneyland? Hasn't it been having issues lately?"

"Not anymore; it got smogged and had a full blown tune-up a few days ago. Course, the tune–up cost me two–thousand fucking dollars." Sheila's eyes widened. "Don't worry; I didn't spend our Disneyland money; that came out of my own pocket. Unfortunately." Claire pushed the brim of her baseball cap up with a thumb, surveying Sheila's luggage. She raised an eyebrow. "That's all you're bringing? Three suitcases worth? You do realize we're there for a _month_ right?"

Sheila rolled her eyes. "Yes, Claire, I realize that. I'm a light packer remember? I didn't even bring to many clothes when we went camping that one time."

Claire smirked as she helped load the luggage into the van. "It would have been better for you; being that you got soaked."

"That was a freak accident! Besides, you were the one who bought the tent."

Claire shrugged. "Whatever." She looked around. "That everything?"

"Yep."

"Sure you didn't forget anything?"

"Yep!" Sheila opened the passenger side door, climbing up into the front seat. She beamed. "Let's go to Disneyland!"

Claire grinned as she opened the driver side door, climbing up into the van and buckling her seatbelt. She looked over at Sheila, raising an eyebrow. "What are you smirking at?"

"You're smiling."

"So?"

"You hardly _ever_ smile."

Claire chuckled as she turned the key in the ignition. "Hey, anytime I get a free pass away from school for a month in exchange for going anywhere, but there, it's a good day." Sheila laughed as the car engine spluttered, then finally started. Claire looked at her, hooking her iPod into the car stereo, spinning the wheel. "We ready?"

"Claire, I was born ready! Let's go!"

* * *

"You get the best of the both worlds, chill it out, take it slow, then you rock out the show! You get the best of both worlds, mix it all together and you know that's the best of both worlds! The best of both worlds!" Sheila sang at the top of her voice as the car wound its way down highway five. "Come on Claire! Join me! You go to movie premiers—"

Claire shook her head as she joined in, half heartedly. "Hear your song on the radio."

"Yeah living two lives is a little weird."

"Yeah."

"But school's cool cause nobody knows!"

"Then you get to be a small town girl, but big time when--seriously Sheila; Hannah Montana? Do I really have to sing this? Can't we listen to something else?"

Sheila grinned. "Nope!" Claire grumbled at the enthusiastic response. "Okay, how about this? Finish the song with me, and then we'll listen to something else; it is _your_ iPod after all."

"Deal. You get the best of both worlds, without the shades and the hair, you can go anywhere."

"You get the best of both girls."

"Mix it all together,"

"Whoa yeah! It's so much better cause you know you got the best of both worlds!"

"Okay! My turn for music!" Claire pumped her fist in the air triumphantly, scrolling the wheel on the iPod without even bothering to look. She grinned as loud guitar chords blasted through the stereo. "Now this is music!" She counted off on her fingers as the first lyric came on. "Let me know what I've done wrong, when I've known this all along."

Sheila groaned. "All American Rejects? Really Claire?"

"Tell me all that you've thrown away! Hey, I sang along with your music; now you have to sing along with me. It's only fair."

Sheila rolled her eyes, singing reluctantly. "Fine. You are, the only one that needs to know! I'll keep you my dirty little secret."

"Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret."

"Hope that you can keep it, my dirty little secret."

"Who has to know?"

Sheila laughed out loud as Claire drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, attempting to dance in her seat. She checked her watch. "One hour down, one more to go."

"Yep! Keep singing!"

* * *

"Sheila, how can you say that?! Buffy and Spike are like the best tv couple ever! Seriously, why do you hate Spike anyway?"

Sheila rolled her eyes; this debate had been going on for at least fifteen minutes. "I already told you; the guy's a douche bag. Chip, no chip; soul, no soul, at the core, Spike is still Spike. Thus…a douche bag. Besides, Angel and Buffy are a _much_ better couple.

"No they're not!" Sheila raised an eyebrow. "Look, Spike is the hottest vampire on the planet. Don't even tell me you'd like to date someone like him; all girls fall for a bad boy at some point in their life. It's an unspoken fact."

"Yeah…I want to date a vampire who, oh, let's see…" Sheila ticked off a list of reasons on her fingers. "Was the bad boy; had his downfall at the hands of his vampire girlfriend; goes back to being badass, only to become pissed off when he can't kill anybody because the Initiative stuck a chip in his head and…,oh yeah….he attempted to rape Buffy!"

Claire smirked. "So?"

"Last time I checked, rape was a _bad_ thing!"

"Okay, fine, I'll give you that. But…I still think Spike is hot."

Sheila rolled her eyes, deciding to drop the debate. "Think what you want; in the end, I'll choose Angel over Spike any day." She paused. "Heck; I'll take Angel over Riley any day. Seriously, a man that is that intimidated by a strong woman deserves to have Angel deck him."

Claire paused, considering the statement as she changed lanes. "Okay, I'll give you that."

"How much longer?"

Claire smirked. "Someone's anxious."

"Of course I'm anxious; I want to start our Disney Adventure!"

"We should be there in about…wow."

"What? How long?"

"Fifteen minutes, give or take. I didn't realize how close we were; we're almost to Katella." She stopped, reading the signs. "Actually, there it is!"

"Yes!" Sheila bounced up and down in her seat as Claire pulled off the highway, winding down through the Disney Resort, searching for the hotel. "There it is! Next stop, the Disneyland Hotel!"


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Checking In**

Claire pulled up to the Disneyland Hotel, finding a parking space near the front. "Okay, let's leave our stuff here until we find out what we're doing."

"Sounds good. Let's go!" Sheila flung open the passenger side door, jumping out of the van excitedly. She called over her shoulder as she made a beeline for the entrance. "Come on slowpoke! Hurry up!"

Claire grumbled as she slammed the driver side door shut, making sure it was locked. "I'm coming, I'm coming." She pushed her hat down over her eyes, making her way to the hotel entrance.

* * *

Sheila walked into the hotel, her eyes wide; everywhere she looked, there was something Disney. A gift shop with a ton of Disney products; a large corridor and over by the elevators was a woman sitting behind a table. Next to her was a shimmery blue and purple sign, with the words 30 Day Disneyland Check–In written on it in shimmery gold letters.

Sheila bounced up and down excitedly as Claire straggled in behind her. "Claire, look! There it is! Oh my gosh, can you believe it?! We made it!"

Claire smirked. "Why don't you just walk over there and check–in, instead of squealing?"

"Hey, I thought you were excited? Besides, don't you want to savor this moment?"

"One, yes, I was excited this morning, but I have been driving for two hours and two, while I'm sure this moment is definitely something to savor, I would rather get our car unloaded and find our hotel room. That way, we can get settled, then go from there."

"Kill joy."

"Disney fangirl."

"Hey!" Sheila looked at Claire, then laughed. "Okay, that part's kind of true; I am a Disney fangirl and proud of it!" She grabbed Claire's elbow, dragging her over to the waiting table. She smiled broadly at the woman in front of her. "Hello there! We're here for the thirty day Disneyland Challenge."

The woman smiled. "Great! And what are your names?"

"Sheila Beauregard and Claire Daniels."

The woman flipped several sheets on a large clipboard, running her finger down the long list of names. "Ahhh…here we are." She checked the names off the list, handing Sheila a tiny spiral bound book. "You are all signed in." She pointed to the book in Sheila's hands. "This will tell you everything you need to know about the thirty day challenge, including the rules, and where you are to go every morning so we know you're in the park, okay?"

Sheila beamed. "Great!"

"What about check–in?" asked Claire.

"Just bring the rule book over to the check–in desk, tell them you're here for the thirty day Disneyland Challenge and they'll take care of the rest." She turned to look under the desk, then popped her head back up, calling to the girls as they headed to the check–in desk. "Oh! Excuse me?"

"Yes?" Sheila turned around

"I forgot; did you bring the required two–hundred fifty thousand dollars with you? You also need that for check–in." She pulled a huge cashbox out from under the desk.

Claire walked over, digging in the back pocket of her jeans. "Here you are; all the money should be there." She handed the woman a white envelope stuffed full of bills, waiting patiently as the woman counted it.

The woman smiled. "It's all here. Thank you. Have a nice stay at the hotel and enjoy your Disneyland Adventure."

"Oh we will. Come on Claire; let's go check in!" Sheila grabbed Claire's elbow, hauling her over to the check–in desk.

* * *

"Ugh!" Claire groaned as she lugged the last of the luggage from the hallway into the hotel room. She scowled at Sheila. "A little help would have been nice Sheila." She flopped on the bed, taking her hat off and fanning herself with it.

Sheila looked up from the rulebook she was reading. "Sorry." She went back to reading, her eyes wide.

"What is it?" Claire sat up, putting her hat back on her head, then sitting down on the other bed, next to Sheila.

Sheila pointed to the part she was reading in the book. "It says here that you are only allowed to ride one ride in the park per day."

"What?!"

"Yeah. One ride in the park, per day. You get up in the morning, making your way to the park whenever you want (there's no set time you have to be there) and you go to city hall to check–in for the day. That way, they know you're in the park and not slacking off. Then, you are required to ride one ride and only one ride. You can ride the same ride multiple times and see all the shows, like Fantasmic and the Fireworks display, but you can only ride the one ride. And…once you leave the park for the day, you can't come back until the next day."

"That sucks." Claire tapped her chin, thinking. "Well, we can go over to Disney's California Adventure then and ride those rides."

"No can do Claire; the rules specifically state that this challenge is for Disneyland only; you go over to Disney's California Adventure, you'll be disqualified."

Claire laid down on the bed. "Again, this sucks."

"Yeah." Sheila paused. "Guess that's why they call it a challenge."

"Yeah." Claire sat up again, looking at the ice bucket. She got off the bed, grabbing it before heading out the door.

"Where you going?"

"I'm going to get ice; moving all that luggage made me hot and thirsty. Be back in a sec."

"Okay." Sheila sighed, shifting her position on the bed as she leafed through the rule book. "Maybe I can find a loophole…"

* * *

Claire sulked down the hallway, looking for the ice machine. "I can't believe this; the challenge to ride one ride and only one ride per day? What the hell are we going to do the rest of the time we're here?" She paused, looking around, before turning a corner down another hallway. "Guess we'll have to think of something crea—oof!" Claire stumbled backwards as she ran into something. "Hey, watch where you're—" She growled. "_Mitzy_."

"Oh." Mitzy scowled, looking Claire up and down. "Hello _Daniels_. Fancy meeting you here."

"You signed up for the contest dumba—"

"Name calling already? Wow; I thought you were above that."

Claire spat at the ground. "Shut the hell up _Mitz_." She readjusted the ice bucket under her arm, pushing her way to the nearby ice machine. "How long you been here?"

"Oh, we've been here since yesterday; we flew in my father's private jet." She surveyed Claire. "Which is more than I can say for you. How'd you get here? Coach and buggy?"

Claire jammed the bucket under the ice machine, jabbing the button, watching as the ice clanked noisily into it. "You're just full of it this morning, aren't you? For your information, we just arrived and are already in our room." She grabbed the ice bucket, ready to stalk out the door.

Mitzy sauntered past her, shooting daggers into her back. "Oh, by the way Daniels, my team…you know, me and Brian? We're going to beat your little team to a pulp tomorrow during this contest."

Claire whirled around. "Oh yeah, because you were just _oh so thrilled to be here_." She rolled her eyes. "Like you care. Cut the bullshit Mitzy; just tell me why you're really this bi—"

"My team's the best. My cheer squad has won regional's three years in a row. I am a winner. And, while my cheer squad may not be here, I have the winning attitude." She got right in Claire's face, leering at her. "Unlike _you_."

Claire stood stunned as Mitzy sauntered out of the room, the door slamming shut behind her. Claire growled, giving the door a good swift kick before stalking down the hallway. "Loser my ass; nobody calls Claire Daniels a loser and gets away with it; I'll show her."

* * *

Sheila started as the door to the hotel room banged open, practically causing a dent in the wall. She watched as Claire walked over to the sink, slamming the ice bucket down. She raised an eyebrow. "Geez. What's got you so steamed all of a sudden?"

"_Mitzy_."

"Mitzy? She's here already? Is Brain here? When did they—"

"Hand me that rulebook." Claire snatched the rulebook from Sheila's hands as she held it out. "Sheila, get a pad and paper; we're going to win this stupid Disneyland Challenge if it's the last thing we do."


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: The Challenge Begins**

"Okay, you're all set. Now, do you have your plan for which rides you're going to ride each day?"

"Yep. Right here." Claire handed a piece of paper to the woman behind the counter in City Hall.

Sheila stared at Claire. "How in the world did you know to make a plan for what rides we would be going on each day? I thought you were just pissed off last night."

"I was pissed off." Claire smirked. "I actually didn't know we needed a set plan for what rides we were going to go on; it just seemed like the most logical thing to do."

"Alright. Today your ride is Splash Mountain. Here's your free fast pass." The woman handed Claire the Splash Mountain fast pass. "Thank you and have a wonderful time. Remember to come here at the end of the day and check off the ride you went on with you and your teammate's initials. We won't be here, but the check–off sheet will be posted on the wall."

"Great! Thank you."

"Thank you."

Claire walked out of City Hall, fingering the fast pass. She looked at Sheila. "Um…what does this thing do again?"

Sheila rolled her eyes, snatching the fast pass from Claire. "Seriously, why am I friends with you again?" She stuck her tongue out playfully, pushing the brim of Claire's hat over her eyes. "This is a fast pass. It gets you onto the rides faster. Instead of waiting in line, you go to the ride you want to go on, in this case Splash Mountain, you stick this pass into the fast pass machine and it prints out a ticket with the time you are to come back."

"Come back?"

"Yeah. It will say 'come back between the hours of one and two', or something like that. Basically you come back to the ride at a set time; this way, you don't have to wait in line for as long, if at all. Although sometimes, if the park is really full, this doesn't make much difference; both lines will be long either way. We don't have to use it; we can do stand–by if we want. We'll see when we get there. Come on."

"Where we headed?" Sheila raised her eyebrows. "Hey, you're the Disney fangirl, not me. I don't know my way around this place; I'm following you."

Sheila smiled, glad she knew more than Claire for once. "Well, Splash Mountain is located in Critter Country, across from the Winnie the Pooh ride."

"Winnie the Pooh?"

"Yeah. It replaced the Country Bear Vacation Hoedown. Which is a shame; that was one of my favorite rides; caused a lot of protest from fans of the ride too."

"I'm guessing the protests didn't work?"

"Nope. Not at all." Sheila sighed, then brightened. "Well, if we want to go to Critter Country, I think our best bet is to go through Adventureland, down to New Orleans Square, past the Haunted Mansion and on the way to Splash Mountain." She headed off in the direction of Adventureland. "Follow me; I'll get us there." Claire followed along, smirking as Sheila burst into a random rendition of "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf." "Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf, the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf? Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, la la la la la."

Claire smirked as she followed Sheila down Mainstreet. "You are _such_ a Disney fangirl; no wonder the name of our club is Disney Geeks United."

* * *

"Here we are!" Sheila paused dramatically in front of what looked like a brown mountain with a waterfall flowing out of it.

Claire watched as a log suddenly appeared at the top of the waterfall, teetering on the edge before "falling" down the waterfall, the passengers screaming bloody murder as the log reached the bottom, sending up a shower of water. She smirked. "Fun times; I always wanted to fall down a waterfall."

Sheila rolled her eyes, grabbing Claire and hauling her away. "Come on."

"Where we going? We're going past the waterfall."

"Look over there." Sheila stopped, pointing to a long line to her left. "That's the fast pass line."

"It's that long?"

"Yeah. Actually…" she let go of Claire's arm. "Stay right there." She left Claire, walking over to the beginning of the fast pass line, checking the wait time. _Fast pass line standby: 30 minutes_. She looked up, checking the time for fast passes. _Return between the hours of 3 and 3:45._ Sheila checked her watch: Two p.m. "Well…" She walked back over to Claire. "Come on, we're going to see how long the standby line is." She grabbed Claire by the elbow, hauling her down to the end of Critter Country.

"Sheila, would you let go of my elbow?" Claire yanked her elbow free of Sheila's vice grip. "I can walk on my own, thank you very much. I don't have to be hauled everywhere; god."

Sheila rolled her eyes as she wound around the crowds of people, headed toward the entrance to Splash Mountain. She stopped, looking at the standby wait time: thirty minutes. "Same as the fast pass line."

"Well, which would be faster?" Claire asked. "The standby line or the fast pass line?"

"At this point, I think this line would actually be faster; if we got a fast pass now, we'd have to come back between three and three forty–five this afternoon."

"I vote for this line."

"Sounds like a good idea. Come on." She went to grab Claire's elbow, only to be met with an annoyed glare. "Geez, don't look at me like that. Okay, I'm sorry I grabbed your elbow; I won't do it again."

"Promise?"

"Promise. Now come on!" Claire sighed as she followed Sheila to the back of the line.

* * *

Claire leaned her head back, looking up at the sky. She tilted her head back down, turning to Sheila. "How much longer do we have to stand here? I thought you said the wait time was only thirty minutes."

"Just because the wait time says thirty minutes doesn't mean it's exact; it can vary. There are times when a wait time will supposedly be sixty minutes and ends up being twenty instead. And then there are times like these, when the sign says thirty minutes, but it's a little longer." She checked her watch. "Like forty five minutes. Don't be so impatient; we're almost there." Claire grumbled at her. "Just…find some way to occupy yourself."

Claire looked around, moving as the line moved forward a bit; by the looks of it, they seemed to be almost near the front; if she craned her neck around a very heavy woman in front of her, she could see the logs. She sighed as the line suddenly stopped, leaning against the cool fake rock surface. "Wanna play rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock?"

Sheila raised an eyebrow. "How about just rock, paper, scissors; I can never remember the rules for rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Fine." She put her palm out, balling her other hand into a fist and pounding her palm with it. "One two three!" She thrust her hand out, smirking at Sheila. "Ha ha, paper beats rock." She covered Sheila's fist.

"Not so fast; how about best two out of three?"

"Okay." Claire made a fist again. "One two three!" She made scissors.

This time it was Sheila's turn to smirk. "Ha! Rock beats scissors!" She pretended to "cut" Claire's paper.

"Okay, once more…one two three!" Claire held out her pointer finger.

"What's that?"

"Pencil."

"Pencil? There's not pencil in rock, paper, scissors. It's called rock, paper scissors for a reason."

Claire smirked. "What? Haven't you ever played the grade school version of rock, paper, scissors? You know…rock, paper, scissors, pencil, glue?"

Sheila rolled her eyes. "That doesn't count; let's go again. Besides, we—"

"How many?"

Sheila looked up, meeting the eyes of a Disney cast member who was monitoring the logs. She held up two fingers. "Uh, two."

"Okay, you…" she pointed to Sheila. "Number two and you…" she pointed to Claire. "Number one." Sheila smirked as she climbed into the log.

"Oh god. What now?" Claire grumbled, getting into the seat in front of her.

"You're in the front."

"So? You're in the front too."

"Not the very front…"

Claire raised an eyebrow. "What's your point?"

"Well…you do realize that by sitting in the very front of the log, you're more likely to get soaked; the water plume will spray you first before it sprays me."

"Grreeaatt."

"Oh, you might want to take your hat off." Sheila reached over, taking the hat off Claire's head as the log slowly wound its way around the inside of the mountain. "We go down pretty fast."

Claire turned around, looking at Sheila. "Can I have my hat back afterwards?"

"Yes." Sheila took the hat, putting it under her leg so it stayed put.

"Hey! Be careful with that, that's—whoa!" Claire shrieked as the log went down a small waterfall.

"I'll be careful with your hat." Sheila's voice softened. "Don't worry Claire; I know how much your hat means to you." She smirked. "If you shrieked going down that little hill, just wait until we reach the big one."

"Yeah, yeah." Claire turned around to face Sheila as the log started climbing.

"You might want to turn around Claire. It's better if you're facing the front."

"Wh—"

"Turn back! Turn back! Turn back!"

Claire turned around, noticing an animatronic rabbit hanging upside down next to the entrance outside. She gulped. "Yeah, that's reassuring."

"Hold on tight, cause here we—AHHHH!!!" Sheila threw her hands in the air, screaming as the log went over the top of the waterfall, seeming to plummet to the bottom.

The log touched down with a huge splash, spraying water everywhere. Claire groaned. "Ugh. I'm soaked."

Sheila stifled a giggle, giving her friend a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Told you you'd get wet."

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

A couple minutes later, the log pulled to a stop, in the exact same place it had begun. Sheila jumped out of the log, turning toward Claire, who was dripping wet from head to foot. She smirked. "Want to go again?"

"Is there any chance of me drying off first, or is that pointless if we're going on again?"

"It's kind of pointless." Sheila looked up, shading her eyes from the sun. She checked her watch. "Besides, it's only three; we have at least two more hours until it gets dark and starts to cool off."

Claire groaned as she followed Sheila to the back of the line again. "You could go on this ride all day, couldn't you?"

"Claire, I could go on most of these rides all day." She grinned. "Like you said, I'm a Disney fangirl." She stopped, pointing to the line of people in front of her. "Look! The line's down this time! I mean, we'll still have to wait, but it shouldn't be for forty–five minutes this time."

"Grreeat."

* * *

An hour and a half later, Sheila jumped off the log as it once more pulled to a stop. Claire got out after her, not being to wet this time, as she had managed to sit in the very back. She rubbed her hands up and down her shoulders. "Okay, are we done yet? It's four–thirty and the sun is going down; I'm already cold. Frankly, I don't feel like getting colder."

Sheila chuckled as she led the way outside. "Yeah, we're done." She smirked. "Five times in a row riding Splash Mountain is enough for you huh?"

"Uh, yeah." Claire shivered as a breeze blew through the park. "Is there a place where I could get some clothes? Kind of wet here."

"Yeah. We could go to Disney Clothiers on Mainstreet. Or…" she trailed off, looking around. "Or one of the stores down here; pretty much any store you go in at Disneyland will have some kind of t-shirt or sweatshirt. Especially this time of year." She paused. "Although, now that I think about it, you could have bought a poncho."

"A poncho?!" Claire glared at Sheila. "You mean to tell me they sell _ponchos_ here and you didn't bother to tell me?! I could have been dry! Ugh!"

Sheila looked at Claire, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry Claire; I should've told you. I just didn't think about it. I mean, most people know that already, but—"

"I'm not most people; I don't know the ins and outs of Disneyland like you do Sheila; god!" She stalked off in a huff, headed to the nearest store, leaving Sheila behind her.

"Claire! Wait! Claire! Come back!" Sheila jogged after Claire, weaving in and out of the crowd, finally catching up to her outside the Winnie the Pooh store. She walked over to her, looking at the floor as Claire dug through a pile of Winnie the Pooh sweatshirts. "Claire, I'm really, really, really sorry. I should have told you about the ponchos. It was my mistake and…I apologize."

Claire regarded her coolly as she held up a light grey sweatshirt with Tigger bouncing on the top left corner. "What do you think?"

"Huh?"

"What do you think of the sweatshirt?"

"Um…it's nice." She forced a smile. "It would be warm."

"Yeah…" Claire answered absently, holding up the sweatshirt again. "Okay." She walked off, headed over to the cashier, Sheila following noiselessly behind. Claire plopped the sweatshirt on the counter. "How much for this?"

"Fifty dollars," the Disney cast member answered sweetly.

Claire's face fell; she gulped down a scowl. "Fifty dollars?" She slammed her hand into the back pocket of her jeans, pulling out her wallet, counting out the bills. "Okay, here's twenty, thirty, thirty–five, thirtysix, thirty–seven, thirty–eight, thirty– nine—" Damn_. I don't have anymore_, she thought.

"Is that all you have sweetie? I'm afraid I need ten dollars more."

"Here." Claire turned, watching as Sheila dug a ten dollar bill out of her purse. "Oh wait…here's a one." She placed the money on the counter.

The Disney cast member smiled. "That's fifty dollars. Here's your receipt; have a great day.

Sheila gently took the sweatshirt off the counter, wordlessly handing it to Claire.

Claire looked at her as she took the sweatshirt. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Claire turned to the Disney cast member behind the counter. "Excuse me?"

"Yes?"

"Is there a bathroom around here? I need to change."

"Outside and around the corner to your left."

"Thanks." Claire slowly walked out of the store, headed to the nearest bathroom. Sheila followed a slight distance behind, sitting down on a bench outside the bathroom while she waited for Claire to change. She sighed, rubbing her eyes, watching as the park guests boarded the honey pots on the Winnie the Pooh ride. "So…it fits."

Sheila whipped her head around, looking up as Claire stood over her. She smiled weakly. "So it does." She clapped her hands together. "So…now what should we do?"

Claire looked around, shuffling her feet. "Want to go get some dinner? My stomach's growling."

Sheila smiled. "Okay, dinner sounds good. Come on." She stood up, heading toward Main Street, Claire behind her.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: Dinner**

"Claire, I'm still really, _really_ sorry."

Claire sighed, shrugging her shoulders as Sheila led them to a restaurant on Main Street. "Sheila…I don't really want to talk about this right now, okay?"

Sheila nodded wordlessly as she made her way up the steps of The Carnation Café. She paused inside the door, scanning the choices of Mashed Potatoes, Chicken, or Beef for dinner. She turned to Claire, ready to ask her what she was having, her heart sinking at the fact that her best friend had wandered off, already ordering her meal.

She sighed dejectedly as she made her way up to one of the cast members manning the food. She hated it when Claire was mad at her.

"What'll it be?"

Sheila started as the Cast Member addressed her, smiling, yet looking impatient at the same time. _How is that even possible_," Sheila mused. "Um…" she paused, looking at the menu. "I'll have the chicken with a side of mashed potatoes and a coke please."

"Sure thing." Sheila watched as the woman bustled around, grabbing a plate and scooping Mashed Potatoes onto it before adding the chicken. She handed the plate to Sheila. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Sheila took the offered plate, stopping by the condiments to grab napkins, a fork, knife and spoon and a small packet of salt and pepper. She walked over to the cashier, paying for her meal; she didn't see Claire anywhere. Sighing, she headed for the door, nearly colliding with Claire.

"Hey. Uh…I got us a seat."

"Okay." Sheila followed Claire to a nearby table on the patio outside the restaurant. She set her tray down, pulling out her chair. "I…I thought you were so mad at me, that you left to go sit somewhere else."

Claire raised an eyebrow as she pulled out her chair, sitting down. "Why would I do that? I'm not gonna leave just because I'm mad."

"Oh." Sheila's face brightened.

Claire sat down, picking up her fork, pointing to Sheila. "I'm still mad at you though."

"_Oh_." Sheila put her head in her hand, restlessly picking at her food.

"Eat."

"Huh?" Sheila looked up, watching as Claire scooped up another forkful of food.

"Eat. If you don't, you'll be hungry later. You get that way if you don't eat." Claire looked up, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "You're always like that."

Sheila smiled slightly as she picked up a forkful of Mashed Potatoes, putting them into her mouth.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Claire snapped her head up, a scowl rapidly replacing the almost smile. "_Hello_ _Mitzy_." Her smile returned as Brian walked up. "Hey Brian. How's it going? What ride did you two go on today?"

"We went on the teacups." He looked at Mitzy, smirking. "Apparently Mitzy has a weak stomach; she threw up all three times."

Claire snorted as she took a sip of her drink. She smirked at Mitzy. "You throwing up? That's the best thing I've heard all day." She paused. "Of course, I guess all cheerleaders throw–up, for some reason or another."

Mitzy leaned over to Claire, hissing into her ear. "Can it Daniels." She looked up, crossing her arms, forcing back another retort. "Yeah…"

Sheila looked up. "Yeah, the teacups are brutal; I used to throw up the first time I went on the ride. It kind of depends who you go with." She looked at Brian, batting her eyelashes. "I'm guessing Brian spins pretty fast, what with those strong arm muscles and everything. I bet you can spin it to the moon and back."

Brian shook his head, then turned to Claire. "Hey, Mitzy and I are eating over there; want to join us?"

Claire looked from Mitzy, to Brian, to Sheila. She swallowed a bite of food, taking a sip of her drink as she spoke. "Thanks, but I'll pass." She smiled at Sheila. "I'd rather stay here; team loyalty, you know."

"Well, alright, if you're sure—" Brian started.

"Yes, I'm sure. Thanks though."

"Sure. See ya around."

"See ya." Claire watched them go, turning back to her food.

Sheila raised an eyebrow. "What was that sigh for? It kind of sounded like a sigh of relief."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Like I really wanted to sit with those two? Mitzy, who you know full well I don't get along with, and Brian, who obviously has a thing for me."

Sheila choked on her drink. "What?! Brian likes you?!"

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah. Don't you see how he looks at me? He grins at me like some kind of idiot. Don't get me wrong; he's cool, but I like him as a friend and fellow track and field jock. Besides, I'm not looking for a relationship; why tie myself down at this age?"

"Sooo…I can still have him?"

"If you ever ask for his number, yes. And no, still not giving it to you." She smirked. "You still have to get it yourself."

Sheila smirked. "Meanie."

"Brian fangirl."

Sheila paused, thinking a minute. "So…are you not mad at me anymore?"

Claire shrugged. "Nah; I'm over it. I also realize that I was overreacting. So, I'm sorry too." She looked at Sheila sheepishly. "So…still friends?"

Sheila jumped out of her chair, giving Claire a tight hug. "Of course we're still friends!"

Claire laughed. "Okay, okay. Now, let go. No offense, but you're hugging me kind of tight here."

"Oh. Sorry." Sheila went back to her seat, jabbing the last bite of chicken with her fork. "So…what ride are we going on tomorrow?"

Claire pulled the list out of her pocket. "Mmmm….Small World."

"Oh no."

Claire grinned evilly. "Yep. It's going to be stuck in your head _all day long_."


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen: Checking off Splash Mountain**

"Really? Small World? This early in the competition?" Sheila followed behind Claire as they made their way to City Hall to put their names on the check off list.

"What? You said you could ride most of these rides all day."

"Yeah, but the Small World song is so catchy that it's one of those rides you either reserve for the end of the day or the end of a Disneyland Challenge."

Claire laughed out loud. "This from the Disney fangirl." She bounded up the steps of City Hall, making her way to the sign–up sheet.

Sheila followed behind her, a thought suddenly occurring to her. "Hey, I thought you said you'd never been here before?"

Claire raised an eyebrow as she put her initials next to Splash Mountain on the list before handing the pen to Sheila. "Nooo…what I said was that I don't know the ins and outs of this place like you do. I also said I don't know my way around this place. I've been here before; I just don't go that much."

"Oh." Sheila took the offered pen, writing her initials next to Claire's on the check off sheet. "But…wait a minute; you acted like you've never been on Splash Mountain before; you also didn't know about the ponchos." Claire shot her a look. "Which I am not going to bring up now."

"I'd never been on Splash Mountain before; today was my first time. I don't even remember seeing it before. Either my family passed it or we just spent more time on the other side of the park." She grinned. "My family really likes Tomorrowland. I kill on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters."

"Is that on the list?"

Claire dug the list out of her pocket, studying it. "Yep."

"When?"

Claire looked at Sheila, a smug look on her face. "That's for me to know; everyday is a surprise." She yawned. "Can we go back to the hotel now? The two hours driving today, coupled with being here so late is making me tired."

Sheila smiled. "Yeah, we can go. Now's a good time to go anyway; with Fantasmic already starting and the fireworks set to start in twenty minutes, we'll beat the crowds."

"Sounds good."


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen: It's a Small World After All**

"Get up! Come on Claire, get up! Day two of the Disneyland Challenge!"

Claire grumbled, throwing a pillow over her face, her words muffled. "Don't wanna."

Sheila grabbed the pillow, tossing it onto the floor. "Come on lazy butt; time to get up. Seize the day." She smirked as Claire flipped her off, her eyes still closed. "I know you can hear me; you're not really asleep. You're just faking."

Claire fought back a smile, lazily opening one eye. "No I'm not. I'm sleep talking." She closed her eye, fake snoring.

Sheila rolled her eyes, silently climbing up on the bed, crawling over toward Claire, positioning herself above Claire's stomach. "Claire, if you don't get up, I'm going to jump on you."

Claire's eyes popped open, eyeing Sheila suspiciously. "You wouldn't…"

"Oh no?" Sheila smirked, pulling her self up a little, ready to land back on Claire's stomach when Claire bolted upright, sending her rolling over to the other side of the bed.

"Okay, okay, I'm up, I'm up! Geez!" She reached across the night table, fumbling for her glasses. She put them on, glancing at the clock: ten in the morning. "Ten o'clock? You're already up?" She took her glasses off, cleaning them on her nightshirt before putting them back on. "I thought you sleep late?"

"Nooo…that's you silly. I'm usually up before you; we just live in separate houses and when you come over to spend the night, you usually take my sister's room, so I'm actually the one who's up first."

"Not always," Claire pointed out as she climbed out of bed, stretching lazily. "Sometimes you sleep in; like when we went camping."

Sheila rolled her eyes, gently pushing Claire toward the bathroom. "That's because the tent leaked, remember? And I got the brunt of it. By the time it stopped raining, it was morning, so I slept a few more hours."

"Try four hours." Claire stopped, planting her feet and grabbing onto the doorjamb to the bathroom. "Stop pushing me. I can go to the bathroom by myself."

"Really? Sure you don't need an escort?" Claire turned around, scowling at her. "Wow; a scowl this early in the morning? I'm impressed?"

"Yeah, well, I would be scowling _less_ if someone hadn't threatened to jump on me."

Sheila smirked, letting go of Claire, allowing her to walk into the bathroom. "All these years and you still don't trust me not to jump on you?"

Claire poked her head out of the bathroom. "I'm not taking any chances." She looked up and down at Sheila, grinning playfully. "Not with that fat butt."

"Hey!" Sheila giggled. "I do not have a fat butt." She grinned as she picked up a long sleeve t-shirt, tossing it to Claire. "Now hurry up; I'm hungry."

"As usual." Claire smirked, ducking as a pair of jeans flew over her head, colliding with the bathroom wall.

"Ha ha. You're a laugh riot."

* * *

Claire turned off on Harbor Drive, making a left on Manchester, circling around to the Pumbaa parking lot. They could have easily walked to the park, but since Sheila had been complaining about eating since they left the hotel, Claire decided that driving to the Pumbaa Lot, then walking to the park would be the easiest way to go; besides, her stomach was starting to growl and there were a ton of restaurants lined up across the street from the Park.

"Fourteen dollars for parking," stated the Disney Cast member manning the parking booth. He held out his hand expectantly.

"Hang on." Claire dug in her back pocket, pulling out her wallet, digging three five dollar bills out of it. _Thank god for Disneyland ATMs_, she thought. After spending most of her money on that sweatshirt yesterday, she had had to stop at the ATM outside the park and get more money. She was now loaded down with fifty dollars even. Well…until now anyway. "Here you go." She handed the bills to the Disney cast member, waiting for the requisite change of a dollar.

"Fifteen dollars. That's one dollar in change." He handed a crisp one dollar bill to Claire, then dug around in the cash register. "Here is your change and here is your parking receipt. Thank you and enjoy the park."

Claire forced a smile as she pulled away. "Oh, we will." She drove around behind the rows and rows of cars, finally finding a parking spot near the front. She put the van in park and hopped out, Sheila appearing beside her a few seconds later. "Okay, now I'm hungry. Where do you want to eat?"

Sheila thought as they made their way out the gate and down the street. "Let's see…there's a McDonalds; a Dennys, Tony Roma's, Coldstone (I think)—"

Claire shivered. "Ooo…to cold for ice cream and I don't feel like eating a flat McDonalds burger."

"How about ribs then?"

Claire paused, thinking as they rounded the corner. "No…to messy. I don't feel like getting rib meat all over me."

"Okay…that leaves Dennys then. How's that sound? If that doesn't sound good, then you better pick something fast, because if it's even possible, I think I'm getting hungrier."

"Dennys it is then."

* * *

"Mmmm…it smells so good in here!" Sheila sat down at the booth the waitress indicated, her mouth watering as the smell of bacon, eggs, hash browns, pancakes and coffee filled her nose. She opened the menu, looking at it hungrily.

"Hi there. My name is Janene and I will be your waitress today. Do you know what you want yet?"

Claire studied the menu. "Um…I don't know yet. Sheila?"

"I'm not sure either."

"That's alright. Would you ladies like something to drink?"

"I'll have a glass of milk please," Sheila stated, looking up.

"Pepsi for me please," said Claire.

"Alright, one pepsi and one milk. I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order. Okay?"

"Okay. Thanks." Claire looked down at her menu, eyeing the grand slam hungrily: three pieces of bacon; hash browns and French toast topped with whipped cream and strawberries stared at her from the menu. She closed the menu, her stomach growling. "Well…I know what I'm getting; what about you?"

Sheila looked up, closing her menu. "I'm having a short stack of pancakes with a side of scrambled eggs." Her mouth watered. "I hope the waitress gets back soon; I'm hungry."

"Sorry it took so long." Janene appeared at the table, pad of paper and pen in hand. "Are you ready to order?"

"Yes we are," said Sheila, smiling.

"Alright then. And what can I get you ladies this morning?"

"I'll have the grand slam with three pieces of bacon, hash browns and French toast with strawberries. Uh…no whipped cream though," Claire stated.

"Very good. And for you?" Janene turned to Sheila, pen at the ready.

"I'll have the short stack of pancakes with a side of scrambled eggs."

"Okay great! I'll have your order ready in a minute."

"Thank you," said Sheila. She watched as Janene walked off, turning back to the table and eyeing the dessert menu.

Claire smirked. "You want dessert too?"

"Not really; I'm just really hungry and since she took our menus, I feel the need to look at pictures of food." She turned the dessert menu toward Claire, pointing to an item. "See?"

Claire read the writing underneath the picture. "Double chocolate cake, topped with chocolate frosting. Wow. That sounds really good."

"Yeah…" Sheila looked at it longingly, then put it back. "Okay, enough food. I need to do something to get my mind off—hey!" She jumped as a crumpled up straw wrapper flew in her face. "Hey!"

Claire smirked. "What? You wanted a distraction. Here." She put her hands up, her thumbs touching, the pointer fingers up. "Land the straw wrapper in the goal." Sheila went to crumple up her straw wrapper. "Don't crumple the whole thing."

"Why?"

"Well, if you only crumple up part of it, you want have any wrapper left. See?" She held out her hand, opening it to reveal several small crumpled up straw wrappers. "I didn't throw the _entire_ wrapper at you."

"Oh. Okay." Sheila giggled as she tore off a piece of the straw wrapper, crumpling it into a ball and aiming for the goal post.

"Sheila Beauregard steps up to the placekicker. She has the ball ready. She's getting closer now, about to throw the ball into the endzone. Can she get a touchdown?"

Sheila laughed. "Hey! Stop distracting me!" She smiled. "Okay, here goes." She aimed carefully, before gently tossing the ball into the goal.

"GOAL! And the crowd goes wild!" Claire cupped her hands around her mouth, pretending to scream.

Sheila burst into giggles, holding onto the table she was laughing so hard. "Okay, I think you just announced my _goal_ to the entire restaurant." She smirked, her giggles subsiding. "Way to go _announcer_." Claire shrugged. "Gotta admit though, that was pretty fu—"

"One grand slam order with three pieces of bacon, hash browns and French toast with strawberries; no whipped cream." Janene set a hot steaming plate down in front of Claire. "And for you…" She turned to Sheila. "One short stack of pancakes with a side of scrambled eggs."

Sheila eyed the plate greedily as it was set down in front of her. "Oooo…thank you very much."

Janene smiled. "You're welcome." She went to walk away before turning back to the two girls seated at the table. She looked at Sheila. "Nice goal by the way."

Claire and Sheila looked at each other, dissolving into laughter as Janene walked back to the kitchen.

* * *

"Did you think she was being serious or sarcastic when she said nice goal?" Sheila asked as they made their way to City Hall.

Claire chuckled. "Who cares? She obviously heard it. Judging by the look on her face though, I'd say she was more amused by it then anything else."

"Yeah..." Sheila trailed off, stopping in front of City Hall. "So, should we both go in? Because if it's just checking in for the day, then technically only one of us has to go in."

"I'll go." Claire headed up the steps to the building. "Where you gonna be?"

"I'll just stand right here; I don't mind waiting."

"Okay." Claire turned around, heading into the building to go check in for the day.

Sheila turned around, watching the crowds of people as they made their way into the Happiest Place on Earth. She smiled as a family came in, three little kids in tow. _They all look ready for a day at Disneyland_, she thought.

"Hey Sheila."

Sheila turned around, her heart hammering in her chest at the sight of Brian standing before her. He was dressed in a pair of shorts, sneakers, wearing a light blue t-shirt, a jacket slung over his shoulder. She stared at him, then gulped, finding her voice. "Hello Brian." She did a once over of his outfit. "Aren't you cold?"

He smiled. "Nah. I don't really get cold."

"All you have is that jacket."

He shrugged, "That's usually all I need."

"Oh. Um…where's Mitzy?"

"Oh…she had a headache; she decided not to come today, so I'm here representing the team." He paused, looking toward City Hall. "Hey, is Claire around?"

"She went to sign in for the day." Sheila paused, her flirting instinct kicking in. She walked over to Brian, eyeing him, hoping she looked seductive. "She's busy, but…maybe there's something I can do?"

"Um…no. That's alright. Just…tell her I said hi." He went to walk away, then stopped, turning around. "Hey Sheila?"

"Yes?"

"Stop the flirting; I hate to tell you, but that's not the way to win me over." He turned around, calling over his shoulder. "See ya later."

Sheila stood there, floored. "Win him over? Wait…does that mean—"

"We'll all signed in."

"AHH!" Sheila jumped a foot into the air.

Claire laughed at the look on Sheila's face. "What's with you?" She paused, studying her friend's face. "Wait…you saw Brian didn't you?"

"Yes," Sheila said, her face flushing.

"Are you alright? I've never seen you look this riled after seeing him before." She smirked. "Usually you're walking on a cloud and melting into a puddle by the time he leaves."

Sheila pointed down the street in the direction Brian had gone. "We were talking and when I started flirting—"

"When you _started_ flirting? Don't you usually _start_ flirting the second you see him?"

"No. My flirting instincts didn't kick in until later."

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Flirting instincts? Okay, slightly confused, but still following…I think."

"I have what I call flirting instincts. Anytime I see a guy I like, they kind of kick in. I don't really think about it, it just kind of happens." She looked down at the ground, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Anyway, we were having a nice conversation and I was enjoying it, but when I started flirting, he…well….he kind of backed off."

"Like he usually does. Okay, got it. Continue."

"Well…he was going to walk away, but before he did, he told me to stop the flirting, but then…he said something interesting."

"Which was?"

"Well, as he was walking away, he turned around and told me that flirting with him wasn't the way to win him over."

Claire's eyes widened as she started down Main Street, headed toward Small World. "He said that flirting wasn't the way to win him over?"

"Yeah."

Claire smiled, giving Sheila's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Could be a good sign; maybe he caught on that you like him and he's dropping you a hint."

Sheila rolled her eyes. "Guys don't drop hints. No offense, but most guys are clueless when it comes to girls liking them."

"Give Brian a little more credit; the guy's actually smarter than you think."

Sheila paused, stopping in front of Tomorrowland. "Maybe you're right." Her face brightened. "Maybe he does like me! Or…he's starting to anyway. Maybe there is hope!"

"Yep. Now come on, I want go on Small World." Claire grabbed a half-dazed Sheila, dragging her the rest of the way to Small World.

* * *

"He likes me," Sheila said dreamily as her and Claire waited in line for Small World. "He likes me…"

Claire grumbled, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "Yes, he likes you. Now, are you going to be like this the rest of the day, or do I have to take you back to the hotel and leave you there?"

Sheila shook her head, snapped out of her daze. "Huh? No! I still want to be here and go on Small World with you." She paused. "Even if it does mean I will never get that song out of my head the rest of the time we're here."

Claire smirked, adjusting her hat. "You're starting to sound like me."

"Shoot Claire; I hang around with you so much, it's a wonder I haven't _become_ you."

Claire rubbed her hands together eagerly. "Ahhh…my plan is working."

Sheila did a double take. "Okay, that was just creepy."

Claire shrugged. "Eh. So…now what should we do? I think we're stuck in this line for like an hour or something."

"Wanna play eye spy?"

Claire laughed. "Okay."

* * *

"Okay, I spy with my little eye something that is round."

Claire looked around, surveying the people and scenery around her. "Um…that really fat woman waay over toward the front of the line?"

"Nope."

"Uh…" Claire pointed. "That man over there who looks like he ate an entire restaurant for breakfast?"

Sheila stifled a giggle. "Claire!"

"What?"

"You can't go picking on all the fat people here," she whispered.

"Why not?"

"Because it's not nice. Besides…" she leaned over to Claire, whispering conspiratorially. "It's that super fat guy over by the McDonalds cart."

Claire whipped her head back, her eyes landing on a morbidly obese man who was chowing down on a large burger and fries. "Holy shit. Okay, that's just disgusting."

Sheila laughed, lightly poking Claire in the shoulder. "Okay, your turn. And no picking on fat people this time."

"Hey, you were the one who saw him, not me." Claire looked around, finding a target. "Hmmm…okay. I spy with my little eye something pink."

"Something pink?" Sheila looked around. "That's not fair; half of Small World is pink."

"Not if you know how I think."

"Which I do know. A little to well. Umm…something pink huh?" She looked around. "Is it the Aurora doll in the toy shop?"

"No, and why would I pick that? We're a little out of focal range for that one."

"Okay…this pink block right here?" She tapped a pink block next to her.

"Nope. Keep guessing."

"Um…" She looked around. "Oh! That woman a couple of people in front of us whose wearing that kind of bright pink shirt."

Claire craned her neck around, looking where Sheila was discreetly pointing. "Nope. Try again."

"Umm…oh! I got it! The clock face! It's kind of pink around the mouth, nose and eyes."

"Bingo!" Claire grinned from ear to ear. "Okay, that was fun. "Your turn."

"Let's see…I spy something red."

Claire looked behind her. "The McDonalds cart?"

"Dang! I _knew_ that was too easy!"

Claire shrugged. "I only thought of that because of the morbidly obese man chowing down on that burger and fries." She shook her head with disgust. "Which will forever be etched in my mind. Unfortunately." She watched as the line moved a little bit. When they had first entered the line, it wrapped around over the steps. Now they were under the trees, close to the ramps that lead down to the boats. She checked her watch. "How much longer, do you think?"

"I don't know. Judging by the fact that we're almost ther—oh. Look!" Sheila pointed to a ramp that was less full than the other one. "Look, there's no one on that ramp."

"Yeah. Unfortunately, we're on _this_ ramp," Claire pointed out, jumping off the rail she was perched on as the line started moving. "Enough of that, I think we're headed for the boats."

"Huh?" Sheila did a double take as the line moved. She scooted past people, finally catching up with Claire, who for some reason seemed to have moved faster than her.

"How many?" asked a cast member.

Claire held up two fingers. "Two."

"Okay. Number six please."

Claire followed the cast member's instructions, standing in line on number six. She turned to Sheila. "Pretty good huh? That line went pretty fast once we got moving on that last part."

"Yeah."

"All passenger, please disembark to your left," yelled out another cast member who was sitting in a white tower overlooking the incoming boats.

Sheila and Claire waited until all the Park Guests had unloaded before climbing into the boat and sitting down. _Please watch your step and remember, keep your hands, arms and legs instead the boat at all times, thank you_.

Sheila laughed, answering the automated recording. "You're welcome." Claire looked at her, smirking. "What?"

"You ready to have this song stuck in your head for the rest of the day?"

Sheila grinned. "Yep! Bring it on!"

"It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world." Claire turned to Sheila, smirking. "Stuck in your head yet?"

"Surprisingly, no. And by the way, you're not the only one who knows the words to the song. There is just one moon and one golden sun and a smile means friendship to everyone, though the mountains divide and the oceans are wide, it's a small world after all."

Claire laughed, joining in as Sheila continued singing. "It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world." Claire laughed, starting the song over again.

Sheila raised an eyebrow. "You're going to sing it again?"

"Yep! I said it was going to get stuck in your head and dammit, it's going to get stuck in your head!" Sheila shook her head as Claire continued singing, thoroughly enjoying herself.

* * *

"It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small, world."

"Okay Claire, we're off the ride; you can stop singing now." Sheila followed Claire as she made her way over to the McDonalds cart. She raised an eyebrow. "McDonalds? After watching the morbidly obese man eating here earlier? You're not disgusted by that anymore?"

"Nope. There is just one moon and one golden sun and a smile means friendship to everyone—an order of fries please." Claire handed the cast member a five dollar bill as she watched the cast member scoop her fries into a carton.

"Here you go."

"Thank you." She turned to Sheila, offering the carton of fries as she popped one in her mouth.

"Uh…okay. I guess I can't say no to McDonalds fries." She took a fry, smiling happily as the mixture of salt and grease filled her mouth. "Mmmm…good."

"Mm-hm." Claire swallowed her fry, grinning evilly as she walked back over to Small World, getting back in line. "It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world."

"Okay, stop!"

Claire smirked, watching as Sheila grabbed another fry. "What? Sick of the song already? How in the world is that possible?"

"Oh shut–up."

Claire laughed as the line moved forward, seeming to go quicker this time. "So…this is round two. If it's already stuck your head—"

Sheila rolled her eyes, pushing the brim of Claire's baseball cap over her eyes. "It's only stuck in my head because someone is continuing to sing it. If you cut me a break between "gigs," then maybe it wouldn't get stuck this fast."

"Aww." Claire pouted. "But getting it stuck in your head is the best part!"

"Hey Claire?"

"Yeah?"

Sheila crossed her arms, glaring at her best friend. "Bite me." Claire dissolved into laughter as the line moved forward.

* * *

Sheila groaned as the boat came to a stop, wearily climbing out. Claire bounded out behind her, singing the song once more. "It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after al—"

Sheila glared, putting her hand over Claire's mouth. "_Have_. _Mercy_! I beg you!"

Claire pulled the hand away from her mouth, smirking. "What? Five times on Small World too much for you?"

"Yes." Sheila paused. "Wait…why does that phrase sound vaguely familiar?"

"It's the same phrase you said to me last night after we got off Splash Mountain. You know, when I was soaked? Before you told me about the poncho I could have bought?"

Sheila winced. "This is payback for yesterday, isn't it?"

"Yep."

"You're…not going to let that one go for awhile, are you?"

Claire smirked, crossing her arms. "Nope." She eyed the line for Small World. "Wanna go again?"

"_No_." She paused. "Okay Claire, you made your point. Now please, can we just quit for the night and go do something else?"

"Okay. What do you want to do now? Dinner?"

"No. I'm kind of full after those fries. Hmm…there has to be something we can do for the rest of the night. Let's see." She checked her watch. "It's six o'clock; Fantasmic doesn't start for three hours and fireworks aren't until nine." She looked toward Main Street. "We could go see the Celebrate You parade. It's pretty cool; lot of dancing; songs from The Jungle Book, Hairspray…"

"Eh."

"We could…" Sheila snapped her fingers. "Want to go on Tom Sawyer Island? I think we have an hour before the last raft stops loading passengers. Besides…" she dug the thirty day challenge rule book out of her pocket, leafing through it. "I don't think the Challenge classifies that as an "attraction," so we wouldn't be breaking any rules."

"What's Tom Sawyer Island?"

Sheila's eyes widened. "You've never been on Tom Sawyer's Island?"

Claire took of her hat, scratching her head. "I'm sure I have; it's just been awhile." Se put her hat back on her head, thinking. "Where is it?"

"It's across from The Rivers of America. Well…more like in the middle of it actually. We could go through Frontierland; that would get us there pretty quick. What do you say? It could be fun."

"Okay, sounds good."


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen: Pirates Lair**

Sheila and Claire made their way down to the Rivers of America, winding around park guests and sidestepping strollers and automatic wheelchairs.

Claire jumped out of the way as another stroller almost ran her over. She looked back, slightly shaking her fist. "Stupid strollers; those should be outlawed. I mean, geez, do they even look where they're going? If this was traffic, there would be tons of fatalities!"

Sheila rolled her eyes, dragging Claire to the side to avoid being hit by another automatic wheelchair. "It's a fact of Disneyland life; you put up with crowds, waiting in lines and automatic wheelchairs and strollers."

"Ye—ow! Hey!" Claire whipped around, shaking her fist at the back of a woman who had just ran over her toe with a double stroller. "Why that stupid—mmpph!"

"Claire! No swearing! This is Disneyland; there are impressionable children around…here." She stopped, watching as a Mom slapped her two rowdy children, telling them to shut-up. She winced. "Okay…maybe swearing isn't the worst thing around here—" she clamped her hand over Claire's mouth. "Still…try to keep the swearing to a minimum. Much as I know you enjoy it."

Claire growled as she followed Sheila to the waiting rafts. "_Fine_." She looked around, noticing a ton of people camped out by the river, sitting on blankets, some sprawled out with backpacks under their heads; others bent over cell phones. "What's with all the people? This some sort of camping spot?"

Sheila looked around. "No. They're camped out here for Fantasmic."

"I thought you said the show wasn't until nine."

"It is."

"Then why…?"

"Fantasmic is very popular and in order to get a decent seat, you have to stake a claim three hours prior." She stopped, pointing to a large family that was sitting right next to the rail. "See where they're sitting? That's prime viewing for Fantasmic. Everybody else that comes after has to sit behind them." She pointed to a couple sitting a little ways behind the family. "Or they're forced to stand. Standing isn't too bad, but it's staking your claim as well. Here, it's all about staking your claim so you can get the best viewing for shows like this."

"Oh."

"Okay, here we are." Sheila made her way over to a spot with a sign that said _Rafts to Pirates Lair_. "Pirates Lair?" Sheila scratched her head, approaching a Disney cast member who was getting ready to open the gates so people could disembark from the rafts. "Excuse me?"

"Yes?" The cast member was an elderly looking man who appeared to be in his seventies.

"Is this where we board the rafts to Tom Sawyer Island?"

The elderly cast member chuckled. "Tom Sawyer Island? Wow; nobody's called it that for years." He peered at the two girls in front of him. "You're old enough to know about Tom Sawyer's Island?"

"My parents have been bringing me here since I was five years old; I remember playing on Tom Sawyer Island. It's a little vague, but I still remember playing around there. It was fun." Sheila said.

"And what about you?" The elderly cast member peered at Claire.

She shrugged. "My parents brought me here, but not as much. Though I think I do kind of remember it too."

The elderly man smiled. "It's nice to have young people who still remember those bits and pieces about Disneyland." He smiled. "Since the success of The Pirates of the Carribean Movies, it has been turned into Pirates Lair." He smiled as he opened the gates, motioning Claire and Sheila onto the waiting raft. He winked. "Don't worry; it's still a fun place to play around in."

"Thanks," Sheila said, climbing onboard the waiting raft.

"Yeah, thanks," Claire added, nodding as she got onto the raft next to Sheila.

"Anytime. You two have fun now."

"Oh, don't worry. We will," both girls assured as the raft took off.

* * *

Claire peered over the side of the raft, checking out the motor as it sprayed water out the back. "Ya know, I hate to diss Disneyland, but the whole 'rafting' to Tom Sawyer Island thing is kind of blown when you have a motor out the back. It just doesn't jive with the rest of the rustic charm they're going for."

Sheila walked over, peering over the side next to Claire. "Yeah. My Mom said the rafts didn't used to have motors; the cast members used to actually raft them themselves."

"Really?"

"Yeah." The girls looked up as the cast member manning the raft smiled at them. "We still do that on occasion, but not as much as we used to; the motor makes it go faster, and since we need to have a fairly quick turn around in order to move people from the New Orleans Dock to the dock on Pirates Lair, it was just easier." He leaned down, whispering conspiratorially. "Personally, I prefer the way we used to it. But oh well." He straightened up, hollering over the raft passengers as it shuddered to a stop at the Pirates Lair dock. "Welcome to Pirates Lair everyone! Enjoy yourself and remember; the last raft back to New Orleans Square is at seven–thirty, so make sure you're back by then; we wouldn't want anyone stranded here while Fantasmic is going on, now would we?"

Sheila checked her watch as she got off the raft. "Six fifteen; we still have plenty of time to see the island before then It's not that big; come on Claire, I want to show you something."

"Okay—ew!"

Sheila whipped around. "What?"

Claire pointed at the water as a piece of popcorn floated by. "Look."

Sheila leaned over, a puzzled expression on her face. "So what? It's just a piece of popcorn someone dropp—oh." She made a face as oil seeped out of the popcorn, creating rings of grease in the water. "That's gross."

"Yeah. Claire paused. "Not as gross as the morbidly obese man we saw earlier at the McDonalds cart."

"True. Okay, now that we're fully grossed out, follow me." Sheila walked up a ramp, standing in the middle of what looked like a huge stage. She walked over, pointing to a small square. "See this?"

"Yeah."

"This is where Mickey comes up during Fantasmic; he shoots sparks out of his fingertips. It's really cool."

"Cool." Claire walked over to another square a few feet away, tapping a toe on it. "How about this?"

Sheila grinned. "Maleficient!"

"Who?"

"Seriously Claire; you have got to watch more animated Disney movies. Maleficient. She's the evil sorceress in Sleeping Beauty; towards the end of the movie, she prevents Prince Phillip from going to the castle by becoming a huge, purple dragon that breathes green fire."

"Nice." Claire paused, thinking. "So…the evil sorceress is part of the show?"

"Yes! The dragon part of her! It's this humongous dragon that is several feet tall and weighs like two hundred tons or something. I know I read somewhere just exactly how much she weighed, but I can't remember. I think two hundred tons is pretty close though."

"Cool."

Sheila's mouth dropped. "Cool? I show you all this and all you say is cool? Not fantastic or magnificent or amazing? Just cool?"

Claire shrugged. "I wouldn't know how cool it is or not; I've never actually _seen_ Fantasmic."

Sheila considered this a moment. "Well…alright. I guess I can give you that one." She walked over to the edge of the stage. "Hey Claire, check this out!" She stopped next to a huge paddle wheel. "This is co—ah!" She shrieked as water sprayed over her.

Claire laughed. "Kind of sucks getting wet when it's cold, doesn't it?"

Sheila rolled her eyes. "Yes Claire, it does. You've made your point." Her face brightened. "Now let's go check out the rest of this place."


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: **Barbiegirl 22: Chapter fourteen to the current chapter (and a few chapters beyond, I believe), occur in the same day. Sorry I didn't answer that before.

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: A Pirate and Fort Wilderness**

"Claire, I'm not so sure I like this. It's awfully dark in here." Sheila held on tight to Claire's shoulder, gingerly picking her way along, her hand feeling the wall.

Claire smirked. "You were the one who decided we should explore this cave, not me."

"Yeah, I know, but…hey. Wait a minute."

"What?"

"How are you able to navigate in here; your glasses change to dark when they're in the sunlight; isn't it even darker in here for you then it is for me?" She felt Claire shrug her shoulders.

"Yeah. I actually can't see all that well either." Her walking slowed down further, finding a little alcove away from the main path they were on. "What's this?"

"What's what?" Sheila poked her head around, peering at a window with steel bars on it. She let go of Claire's shoulder, grasping the bars and peeing into what looked like a jail cell. "I can't see; is there anything in there?"

"Oh, now you ask if I can see anything." Claire came up beside Sheila, peering into the cell as well. "How the hell should I know? It's a wonder I got us this far."

"Aye. What you be looking at mateys?"

Sheila squinted, barely able to make something out in the dark. "I think it's a pirate."

Claire took off her glasses, squinting into the cell. "Noooo…really?" She cleaned her glasses on her shirt, placing them back on her face. "That would explain the whole mateys thing."

Sheila rolled her eyes, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dark. "It _is_ a pirate." The two girls peered into the cell as the pirate seemed to glare at them.

"Aye…things can deceive the eye mateys; even the moonlight makes things look different."

"Only the moonlight makes things different," Claire mocked, smirking. "Oh please; it's just an animatronic pirate. I bet he says the same—ah!" She shrieked, jumping back as the pirates face suddenly changed from human to skeleton.

Sheila doubled over laughing. "Well Claire, I'm sure he does say the same things; he just likes scaring people to much." She smirked. "Pretty bright for an animatronic pirate." She held onto the wall, bursting into giggles.

Claire grumbled. "Oh shut-up."

Sheila clapped a hand over her mouth, her giggles subsiding. "I'm sorry; your reaction was just _so_ funny."

"Yeah yeah." Claire turned around, waiting for Sheila to grab her shoulder. "Alright, let's explore the rest of this cave."

* * *

A few seconds later, the girls emerged from the dark cave, squinting in the sunlight. Sheila squinted, her eyes watering. "Ow. The sunlight hurts my eyes."

"Yeah, me too." Claire squinted, waiting for her glasses to adjust to the brightness outside. "Now where do you want to go?"

"Ummm…" Sheila paused, looking around. "Hey, what's that over there?"

"Huh?" Claire looked where Sheila was pointing; up ahead seemed to be some kid play area. She raised an eyebrow. "That's where you want to go? Really?" She watched as two little kids ran past her, headed to the dark pirate cave they had just come out of. "It's crawling with kids."

Sheila smirked, wrapping an arm around Claire's shoulders. "Come on Claire; where's your sense of adventure?"

"Back at the dock?"

"Oh come on, tap into your inner child. It could be fun."

"I guess."

"Good enough!" Sheila held her arm in the air, pointing to the kid area. "Onward to the play area!"

Claire sighed, trudging along behind. "Now what—hey." She stopped, eyeing what appeared to be a shipwrecked boat in a little lake. "What's this?"

"What's what?" Sheila turned around, retracing her steps. "Um…looks like a sunken ship." Her eyes widened as a pulley suddenly sprang to life, lifting out a treasure chest with a pirate skeleton hanging from it. As suddenly as it had come up, it went back down into the water.

Claire tilted her head to the side, trying to figure it out. "So…it's automated?" She stepped forward. "Like a motion sensor or something?" She frantically waved her hand over the shipwreck, only to have nothing happen.

"Noooo…it can't be that," Sheila mused. "Something else has to be activating it…" her voice trailed off as she spotted a little kid next to what appeared to be a device that lifted up an anchor on a ship. She watched intently as the little boy grabbed hold of one of the handles, running around while the wheel cranked. She turned back to the shipwreck. "Aha! That's it!"

Claire jumped at the sudden exclamation. "What's it?"

"Just a sec." Sheila held up a finger, watching as the little boy continued to run faster and faster.

Claire followed Sheila's gaze. "Ohhhh…so that's how it's activated."

"Yeah. We had it all wrong." The little boy finally gave up trying to bring up the treasure from the shipwreck, moving on to something else. "Come on Claire; you ready to bring up pirate treasure?"

"Umm…no." Claire smirked at the look of surprise on Sheila's face. She laughed, shrugging her shoulders. "Okay, why not?" She followed Sheila over to the device, grabbing one of the handles.

Sheila went across from her, grabbing another handle. "You ready? We have to go fast to bring the treasure up."

Claire smiled. "I'm ready."

"Okay; on the count of three, we start running. One…two…three!" The girls took off, running around in circles, running as fast as they could. Sheila looked over at the shipwreck, noticing the pulley was working a little. "Come on Claire! Faster." She picked up speed, huffing and puffing.

"We raised it up yet?" Claire panted, trying to get a glimpse of the pulley.

"Not yet! One more turn should do it! Come on Claire; give it everything you have!" Sheila looked over, finally slowing down when she saw the pulley bring up both treasure and pirate skeleton. She let go of the wheel. "We did it!"

Claire let go, huffing and puffing, watching as the pirate treasure and dead pirate slowly sank back into the water. "Okay, I don't normally say this, but that was kind of fun."

Sheila pulled Claire's baseball cap down over her eyes. "Told you."

Claire waved the comment away with her hand. "Yeah yeah." She followed Sheila as she made her way to a jungle gym type thing. She stopped, pointing to it. Claire shook her head. "Oh _hell_ no."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Sheila pouted. "Fine. Alright genius; I've been the one coming up with all the ideas here; now it's your turn."

Claire grumbled, lifting the brim of her hat up with a thumb. "_Fine_." She looked around, her lips slowly curling up into a smile. She rubbed her hands together excitedly.

Sheila raised an eyebrow, pointing. "You just rubbed your hands together; you only do that when you get excited over something. What's up?"

"Two words."

"Which are…?"

"Suspension bridge."

Sheila smirked. "Suspension bridge. That could be fun."

"Good. I see one up ahead." Claire walked over to a nearby suspension bridge that was going over a simulated river. She walked onto the bridge, getting her balance, slowly making her way across it.

Sheila watched as Claire made her way across the bridge. She was just about to step on it when a sign caught her eye: _Please do not jump on the suspension bridge_. She frowned, stepping onto the bridge, making her way toward Claire, who was halfway across by now. "Hey Claire! Wait up!"

"What?" Claire stopped walking, turning around to face Sheila.

"We have to be careful…" she pointed towards the end of the bridge she had come from. "There's a sign over there that says no jumping on the bridge."

"Oh really." Claire looked at Sheila, a mischievous smirk on her face.

"Um…Claire? What's with the look? You're not…oh no." She grasped the coiled rope that served as a rail as Claire started jumping, causing the bridge to wobble and shake. "Claire stop! We're not supposed to jump while we're on the bridge! There's a reason for the sign!"

Claire ignored her, continuing to jump. "Aw come on Sheila! Jumping on suspension bridges when you're not supposed to is fun!"

Sheila groaned, hanging her head over the side. She gulped. "Ohhhh…I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Sheila?" Claire stopped jumping momentarily, noticing the position her friend was in. "Sheila? You alright?" She gently moved over toward Sheila, lightly touching her back. "You okay?"

Sheila gulped, her face taking on a light green color. "I don't feel so goo—" Her words were cut off as she heaved over the side.

Claire clapped her hand over her mouth, trying to stop herself from gagging as Sheila's lunch spewed everywhere, just narrowly missing a little girl who ran by just seconds before it hit the ground. "Okay. Now _that's_ the grossest thing I've seen all day."

* * *

"Feel any better?" Claire knelt down in front of Sheila, who was sitting on a bench outside one of the play caves, her face pale.

"I'm alright." She groaned, gulping back a gagging reflex. "At least, I think I'm alright. Still feel a little nauseous though."

"Here." Claire took off the backpack she was carrying, unzipping the top and rummaging around inside, finally producing a can of 7-up. She popped open the top, holding it away from her as it sprayed a little on the ground. She wiped the excess soda off with her shirt sleeve before handing it to Sheila. "This might help settle your stomach."

"Thanks." Sheila gratefully took the can, taking a little sip. "Ugh."

"What? Still feel nauseous?"

"Yeah."

Claire got up, slowly backing away. "Are you nauseous enough to where you feel like puking?"

Sheila raised an eyebrow. "No. I mean, I still feel nauseous, but not enough to puke." She smirked, the color slowly returning to her cheeks. "You're safe."

"Okay." Claire walked over, sitting down on the bench next to Sheila, putting her backpack between her legs. "Just let me know when you feel better. We have until the park closes." She smirked. "Which isn't for a couple of hours I think."

Sheila smiled, lifting the can to her lips, slowly taking another sip. "Yeah." She paused. "Hey…what time is it anyway? The last raft back to New Orleans Square is at seven–thirty."

"It's…_shit_."

Sheila started, taking another sip of the soda. She eyed Claire warily. "Shit? Why'd you say shit? You only say shit if it's…" She gulped the rest of the soda, jumping off the bench and tossing the soda into a nearby recycle bin. "It's seven–thirty isn't it?"

Claire sighed, getting up, flinging her backpack on her shoulder. "Not quite, but it's close."

"How close?"

"It's seven twenty–seven."

Sheila's eyes widened. She grabbed Claire's hand, running toward the docks. "Come on! We have to hurry!"

"What about your stomach?"

"It's fine! Now let's go!"

* * *

The two girls ran through Pirates Lair, dodging little kids as they scurried past. They finally saw the dock up ahead, passengers still being loaded. "Okay, they're still loading passengers! I think we can make it!" Sheila picked up speed, Claire right behind her as they ran to the dock. But right as they got there, the raft pulled away, roaring over to New Orleans Square. "Wait! Come back! You forgot us! Wait!" Sheila sat down, her stomach churning. "Wait. Come back."


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen: Stranded**

"Oh god. Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god."

"Shhh…it's okay. Come on; let's get you to a bench; you just threw up a few seconds ago and all that running will make your stomach churn more if it hasn't settled down yet." Claire wrapped an arm around Sheila, slowly leading her to a nearby bench.

Sheila looked up at Claire, her eyes wide. "We're stranded here; we're stranded here on Tom Sawyer Island. A cast member is going to find us and they're going to take us to security and then…and then…we'll be disqualified from the competition and we can kiss the Disney Adventure of a lifetime good-bye!"

"Okay, okay." Claire wrapped her friend in a hug, holding her tight. "It's okay Sheila; we'll find a way out of this. I promise."

"Really?"

"Really." Claire smiled as Sheila's tears finally subsided. "Besides, the park isn't closed yet and you said Fantasmic was at nine right?"

Sheila sniffled. "Yeah. So?"

"So…someone has to set off the fireworks and the pyrotechnics for the show; we're bound to run into somebody."

Sheila sniffed. "Yeah, but…they're still going to find us and we're going to get into trouble!" She wailed, burying her head in Claire's shoulder.

Claire sighed, trying to sooth her friend. _We have to find a way out of here and not get caught. _"Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? Maybe some cast member will take pity on two lost teenage girls." She pouted. "See? If we pout enough and look cute, then maybe they'll let us off."

Sheila smiled at her friend. "Yeah."

"Okay." Claire dropped the fake pout. "Feeling better now? We have to be logical about this. So…in the event we become stranded here after the park closes, we need shelter." She looked around, chuckling softly. "Shouldn't be to hard to find; this place is crawling with caves. And…we can always go back and live with that pirate."

Sheila laughed out loud. "Now there's a night we'll never forget. I can see it now; I'll go home and say "hey Mom, guess what happened to me and Claire? We got stranded on Tom Sawyer Island and slept in a cave next to a skeleton pirate!"

Claire laughed. "Yeah. She'll probably think we're crazy."

Sheila stood up. "Hey, if I know my Mom, that's probably not to far from the truth." She turned around, walking away.

"Sheila? Sheila, where you going?"

"I'm going to Fort Wilderness; that's our best bet for shelter. At least it's barricaded."

Claire scratched her head, standing up and slinging her backpack over her shoulder. "Fort Wilderness?"

Sheila turned around, raising an eyebrow. "You mean you've never heard of Fort Wilderness?"

"Nope."

"Well…you're about to; follow me!"

* * *

"This is Fort Wilderness?" Claire looked up at the grey sign that was hanging over a wooden, cabin log style gate. The gate was locked; no entrance anywhere.

Sheila scratched her head, walking around the Fort. "I don't get it; I vaguely remember coming here and playing in this place. The gates were always open; there was a rifle roof and a telegraph office and some type of store, I think." She frowned. "Maybe there's a door hidden around here or something."

Claire stepped up to the entrance, walking around to one side. "Doesn't look like it; all I see is a bathroom."

"There's a bathroom on this end too." Sheila sat down on the ground, feeling defeated. "We can't get into Fort Wilderness; now what?"

Claire stood next to her, looking around. "Well, like we said earlier; there are plenty of caves; I'm sure they have crevices and a big area inside some of them. Think I saw a kid playing around in a big one earlier."

"Yeah. I guess. It's ju—" she started, an odd sound reaching her ears. She stood up, hastily wiping the dust off her jeans. She stood next to Claire. "Claire? Did you…did you hear that?"

"Yeah…I did." She stood in front of Sheila looking around. "It sounds like…voices? People's voices. But that's not possible; the raft left a half hour ago."

"That's odd." Sheila craned her neck around Claire, peering into the darkness. Although there was a little light from across the river, there wasn't much and whoever it was looked like they were carrying flashlights. Sheila could just barely make out spots of light coming their way. "Wait…Claire, you said the rafts left half an hour ago right?"

Claire checked her watch. "Roughly. It's about eight twenty now."

"That's why they're here! Fantasmic starts in forty minutes! These are cast members!"

"But how'd they get here?"

"I think Disneyland has hidden underground tunnels or something; I've heard the stories; I've just never seen them myself."

"Isn't Fantasmic up near the front of the island?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"If it's at the front of the island, then why—quick! Here they come!" Claire grabbed Sheila's hand, pulling her around the corner where the bathrooms were.

"Claire what—mmmpphh!"

"Sorry Sheila, but they're getting closer; we need to keep our voices down. Otherwise they'll hear us."

Sheila nodded wordlessly as Claire took her hand away from her mouth. The two girls peeked their heads around the corner, watching intently as a large group of cast members walked up to the gate.

"Okay gang, this is it! Everyone have their gear?" Brad surveyed the crowd as they held up neon monkey costumes, a very large puppet of what looked like an eel, and more neon colored props and costumes. He looked down at a checklist in his hand that was lit up by a book light. "Okay, great!" He looked at the closed gates. "Now…open the gates!" He waited, tapping his foot impatiently. "I said open the gates! We're losing valuable time here people!"

"Brad, chill." Melanie emerged from the crowd, flicking a strand of black hair off her shoulder. She gently shoved him out of the way. "Seriously Brad, yelling doesn't help." She turned toward the assembled cast members. "Hey guys, little help here huh?" The cast members set their multicolored props down on the ground, splitting into two groups, one on the right hand door, the other on the left side door. Melanie waited until they were in position. "Okay, on the count of three: one…two…three!" The cast members pulled on ropes that seemed to appear out of nowhere, pulling both doors open with a hearty "heave-ho!" They finished, panting as they picked up their props and walked inside. Melanie followed after them, smirking at Brad. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Brad rolled his eyes. "I could have done that."

"Well…you could have, but…you didn't, now did you?"

"Hey! No insulting your superior!"

Melanie blew a raspberry as she studied a neon green monkey costume. "Please Brad. I'm a better superior than _you_ are."

"But—but—"

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Enough with the blustering Brad; the show starts in thirty–five minutes. Let's move!"

Claire and Sheila looked at each other, slowly peeking around the corner to make sure the two cast members had entered the Fort. Claire breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close!"

"Yeah." Sheila paused, slowly making her way around to the front. "I wonder what they have in there?" She crept around to the front, disregarding the cast members inside.

"Sheila? Sheila?" Claire looked around, noticing Sheila entering the gates of Fort Wilderness, eyes wide. "Sheila wait! Don't! We'll be exposed!" But it was to late; Sheila was already in the fort. "_Shit_." Claire took her hat off, smacking it against her leg in an attempt to get the dust off it, before slamming it down on her head. "This is what I get for being good and trying to find a way out of here. Stupid, fucking, Disney love. Sheila's the one who's going to get us into trouble. Not me." She sighed, heading toward the front of the Fort. "Well, as always, guess I better save her and drag her out."


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen: Caught!**

Sheila looked around Fort Wilderness, her eyes wide in amazement. Everywhere she looked, there was a prop from Fantasmic: the neon colored monkey suits; the huge crocodile from the Captain Hook sequence; Captain Hook's ship; the brand new additions of Flotsam and Jetsom for Ursula's part and more.

"Wooowww…this is incredible!" Sheila breathed, barely able to contain her excitement. "All this stuff from the show, the props, the costumes…" she was practically drooling. She started as someone grabbed her arm.

"Sheila," Claire hissed. "What are you doing? We have to get out of here! Remember? Being discovered, being disqualified, going to Disneyland security? _Remember_?

Sheila snapped out of her daze. "Oh! Right!" She turned around, making a beeline for the entrance, dragging Claire with her. "We have to go!"

"And where do you think you're going?" Sheila and Claire skidded to a halt in front of a cast member who was blocking the exit. The cast member glared at them. "This is for cast members only; park guests are not allowed in this area and will…be…punished." The cast member's voice softened, a strange look on her face. "Do I know you two? You look awfully familiar."

"Um…I don't think so, we've never seen you before," Sheila blubbered, her knees shaking.

"Are you sure? Because I thought…"

Claire peered at the cast member in front of her, taking in the long black hair, the tan skin…did she used to wear sunglasses? Wait. "You're her!" Claire blurted without thinking.

"Huh?" Sheila looked from Claire to the cast member, obviously confused.

"Sheila! This is the same girl who let us dance on the High School Musical: Right Here, Right Now float in California Adventure that one time, remember?"

Sheila looked the cast member over. "Oh yeah! You're…" she blushed sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I'm bad with names."

"Melanie."

"That's it!" Both girls said in unison.

Melanie put her hands on her hips, looking at the two girls in front of her with amusement. "Well, you two do look familiar, but you still haven't told me your names yet." She looked at Sheila. "I know you're Sheila, but you…" She trailed off, studying Claire.

"Claire."

"Claire…" Melanie mulled this over for a minute, a realization dawning on her. She smirked. "Oh yeah. You were the one who didn't want to wear the cheerleading uniform."

Sheila burst into laughter. "Oh yeah!"

Claire rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore the comment. She eyed Melanie. "You're taller than I remember."

Melanie laughed. "Oh, I'm the same height; you probably just didn't notice the first time you met me." She smiled, leading them over to a corner of the Fort where a few cast members were gathering up the fireworks that needed to be set off for the show. She looked around, yelling. "Hey Brad! Look who I found infiltrating our island!"

Sheila raised an eyebrow. "_Your_ island?"

Melanie chuckled. "Okay, so it's not really _our_ island per say, but we're out here every night so that's what it feels like." She paused, looking around. "Brad!"

Claire stuck her fingers in her ears, shielding herself from Melanie's loud voice. Once Melanie had stopped yelling, she took her fingers out, a thought suddenly occurring to her. "Hey, how come you're not at California Adventure anymore? Did something happen?"

Sheila's eyes widened in horror. "They didn't fire you, did they?" She paused, realizing the absurdity of her statement. "Wait."

Melanie chuckled, waving the girls to follow her as she walked around the perimeter of the Fort. "Oh, I got promoted."

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Promoted?" She shook her head, thinking. "Sooo…being part of Fantasmic is a step up from performing in the High School Musical 3: Right Here, Right Now parade?"

"Believe it or not, yeah. See, in the High School Musical Three parade, I was just a performer. And Brad…well Brad was my superior. Now…" she paused for dramatic effect. "Now…I'm his superior!"

"We're both leaders now Mel." Claire and Sheila turned, watching as Brad walked up behind them, a rag in his hand. "Right Mel?" He walked over to her, casually slinging an arm over her shoulder.

Melanie made a face, gently picking up Brad's arm and removing it from her shoulder. "Okay, one, I asked you not to call me Mel; it's Melanie. Secondly, I told you not to sling your arm over my shoulder and three…" she smirked. "I _am_ your superior."

Brad looked at her, pretending to be taken aback. "Yes, well, you may be my superior but I was the one who got us in the Fort tonight."

Melanie crossed her arms, a smug expression on her face. "Oh really? And who, pray tell, actually _got_ us in tonight?"

"Um…"

"That would be me, thank you very much."

Brad paused. "Well, you did get us in, but it was my great leadership that got us here."

"We go here every night unless it's raining or cloudy doofus. I could get here with my eyes closed I know it so well." Melanie stopped, smirking at the surprised look on Brad's face. "Anyway, the whole leadership thing aside, do you recognize these two?" She pointed to Sheila and Claire.

Brad stared at the two girls, racking his brain. "Um…well, you two do look familiar."

Claire crossed her arms. "Keep guessing ego boy."

Melanie laughed, pointing to Claire. "I like this one; looks like you got your work cut-out for you Brad." She paused. "You honestly don't know who these two are?"

"No id—wait a minute!" He grinned, a realization dawning on him. "Of course I know you! You're the little starlets who we had dance on the High School Musical Three float a few months back!"

Claire put her hands on her hips, slightly offended by the remark. "_Little_ starlets?" She growled. "We're not little." She eyed Brad suspiciously; she didn't like the guy when she had first met him and she wasn't to fond of him now.

Brad looked apologetic. "Sorry about that."

Claire glared at him, her expression softening a bit. "It's okay." She reached up, readjusting her hat.

Brad smiled, attempting to be friendly. "Say, that's a pretty sweet hat you got there; mind if I take a look?" Without thinking, he reached down to take the hat off Claire's head, only to have his hand smacked for his trouble. "Ow!"

Sheila growled. "Nobody touches that hat but me." Claire raised an eyebrow. "Well, sometimes anyway."

"Okay, okay sorry. Geez." Brad walked off, rubbing his smacked hand, muttering something to himself.

Melanie laughed. "Looks like Brad's in trouble with the two of you around. But don't mind him; like I told you the day you danced in the parade, he's not really a bad guy. Just a little…overexeurberant, I guess would be the right word."

"Yeah…"

"Uh Mel?"

Melanie turned, smiling at a girl who waked up to her, clipboard in hand. "Hey Alice, what's up?"

"I…uh…hate to interrupt, but the show starts in twenty minutes and we're…well…we're a little behind schedule."

"Guess we better get moving then." Melanie walked to the center of the Fort, raising a megaphone to her mouth that another cast member handed to her. "Alright everyone! We have twenty minutes to get this show ready! Now everyone, follow me!" She waited as her crew gathered their things before turning to Sheila and Claire. "You can come too; get a taste of what the show is like from the inside."

"Yeah!" Sheila cheered excitedly, falling in line behind the other cast members, Claire following somewhat reluctantly behind.

"Alright everyone! March!"


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N: **I have never been behind the scenes of Fantasmic; this is just happy speculation as to what it might be like.

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: Behind the Scenes**

"Okay, everyone ready?" Melanie walked around, surveying the cast members as they got into their positions. "Mickey ready to go underneath?"

"Greg's just putting on his Mickey costume and then he's headed over to his starting point."

"Fantastic!" Melanie crossed something off the list with a flourish. "Pyrotechnics ready?"

"We're ready," several voices called out, though where the voices were coming from was anybody's guess.

"Awesome!" Melanie walked over to three rafts that were ready and waiting to be loaded. She walked past four cast members who were dressed in the neon monkey costumes. "Becca, Avery, Chaz, Dominic? You four ready to go?"

"We're ready," the one named Dominic replied. He smirked. "We're just _monkeying_ around." Claire groaned at the cheesy joke.

Melanie smiled. "Okay, great! No monkey business then? Or rather, make sure to hold off on the monkey business until it's your cue."

Dominic grinned, giving Melanie a fake salute. "Aye aye sir!"

Melanie laughed. "At ease soldier, at ease."

"Isn't this cool?" Sheila whispered to Claire, watching Melanie as she went around to the other cast members, making sure everything was in place and ready to go.

Claire shrugged. "I guess."

"You guess?" Sheila smirked, reaching over and taking Claire's hat off her head. Claire just smiled at the action instead of the usual scowling. Sheila raised an eyebrow. "What? No 'hey! Give it back?'" She dangled the hat in front of Claire's face.

"Hey, after what you did earlier, you've earned it." She reached over, grabbing her hat and placing it on Sheila's head.

Sheila grinned, playfully tugging on the hair tie that held Claire's long hair back in a ponytail.

"Hey!"

Sheila grinned again, finally releasing the tie, watching as Claire's hair remained stuck in the ponytail position. "Aw, come on Claire, let your hair down," she joked.

Claire grumbled, then smirked, looking at Sheila. "Oh alright." She shook her head, letting the blonde hair come loose, causing it to fall over her shoulders. She shrugged. "Well, it'll keep my neck warm anyway."

"Yep."

Claire looked at Sheila cautiously. "I…still get my hat back, right?"

"Of course."

Claire grinned. "Okay, just checking."

* * *

Melanie sauntered up to Brad. "Okay, looks like that's everything. Everything set to go on your end?"

"Yep! Ready and waiting for the final kick-off."

Melanie put a hand on her hip. "Brad, this isn't football." She scanned her checklist one more time, making sure she had everything. "Oh. Did you check on Maleficient?"

"Ummm…"

"_Brrraaad_."

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking. Umm…" he trailed off, looking sheepish.

"Brad! You were supposed to check on Maleficient yesterday! We've been having issues with her again remember?" She took out her walkie-talkie, glancing at her watch as she did so. "Shit!" She placed the walkie-talkie to her lips, speaking quickly. "Code red! Code red! We have a dragon that is not set to go and a show that is starting in five minutes! Meet me underneath the stage immediately!"

"What's going on?" Claire and Sheila ran up, hearing the frantic tone in Melanie's voice.

Melanie sighed, headed over toward a trap door near the stage. She glared at Brad before turning to Claire and Sheila. "Somebody forgot to take care of the dragon prop of the show and it starts in five minutes." She jumped as her walkie-talkie went off.

"Mel, where are you? We need help down here!"

She whipped the walkie talkie out of its holster. "Coming down Michael." She looked at Sheila and Claire. "Would you guys like to come too? We could use all the help we can get right now. But we have to move fast." She waited while the girls looked at each other.

"Count us in," Claire said, snatching her hat off Sheila's head, not even bothering to tie her hair back in a ponytail.

"Hey!"

She looked at Sheila apologetically. "Sorry Sheila; it's my thinking cap. You know that. Now come on!" Before Sheila could respond, Claire had disappeared down the hole from the trapdoor.

* * *

Sheila jumped the last rung of the metal ladder she had climbed down, her eyes taking in the sight: right in front of her very own eyes, standing what appeared to be over several feet tall if not more, was the huge audioanimatronic Maleficient dragon. Its eyes blinked a brilliant green and its neck moved from side to side. "Wow…"

"Sheila!" Sheila jumped at hearing her name, whirling around quickly. "Here!"

Sheila reached out her hand quickly, grabbing a wrench Claire threw her way. "For wha—"

Claire rolled her eyes. "It's for the dragon. Duh. Now come on; help me tighten up these bolts."

Sheila did as she was told, quickly kneeling beside Claire, sticking her wrench over a bolt and turning it to the right. "Hey, where's Melanie?"

Claire motioned upward, a ratchet in her hand. "She's up there."

Sheila looked up, gasping as she caught sight of Melanie on the very top of the dragon, appearing to ride it. "Oh my go—"

Melanie smiled down at her. "Pretty cool, huh?" She beamed as the dragon's head was brought down to Sheila's level. "Dave's over there manning the switches." Sheila looked behind her, finding a man sitting at what looked like a massive computer; there were switches, wires, buttons, knobs and dials everywhere. She jumped as Melanie suddenly appeared next to her. "Dave, I think the dragon's all ready." She walked over to Claire, Sheila following wordlessly behind. "How the bolts coming Claire?"

Claire grunted as she gave a half quarter turn to a particular stubborn bolt. She gave the thumbs up sign. "All good over here Melanie."

"Great! Sheila, how about your bolts?"

Sheila stared at the wrench in her hand. "Uh…" she looked at Melanie sheepishly. "Um…I kind of forgot; I got distracted by the dragon." Melanie glared at her for a second as Claire came walking up.

"Sheila gets caught up in the Disney magic." She gave Melanie a smile. "Don't worry, I'll work with her." Melanie nodded wordlessly as Claire led Sheila away, thrusting a different wrench into her hand.

Sheila knelt down, tackling the bolts while Claire watched diligently. She turned around, looking at Claire. "Thanks Claire."

"Hey, no problem. You did the same for me earlier." Claire looked over her shoulder, watching as Melanie started rounding up the rest of the cast members. "Better hurry though; looks like Melanie's getting ready to head out."

"Right." Sheila bent her head down, tackling another bolt.

Melanie stood at the front of the room, looking at the Disney cast members. "Okay guys, that was great. Great teamwork and nice timing. We have two minutes to spare."

_Two minutes_? Sheila thought. She frantically moved to another bolt, tightening it quickly.

Melanie walked over, peering over Sheila's shoulder. "How those bolts coming Sheila?"

"One more left." Sheila finished the bolt she was currently tightening, moving on to another, tightening it in record time. She stood up, satisfied with her work. "Done!"

"Excellent! Alright everyone, nice job! Now, who's ready to get this show started?" A cry of cheers went up from the crowd. "That's what I thought; onward!"

* * *

"Okay Richard, ready with the lights?" Claire and Sheila watched as Melanie spoke into her walkie talkie. "Okay good. On my signal. One…two…three." Sheila and Claire started as the lights around Disneyland suddenly flicked off. Claire strained her ears; if she listened hard enough, she could just barely make out the cheering park guests across the way. "Okay…cue music!" Suddenly the familiar Fantasmic theme blasted through several speakers, some sounding close. The sound was deafening.

"Are you good?" Claire yelled above the music.

"Yeah! I'm great!" Sheila yelled back, marveling as Melanie kept issuing orders into the walkie talkie.

"And cue Mickey in five…four…three…two…one." Sheila and Claire craned their necks; they could see Mickey slowly rising out of the floor, a spotlight shining on him. Melanie waited a few seconds, then…"cue sparks." The crowd oohed and ahhed as sparks shot through Mickey's fingers, lighting up the night. "Okay, and…narration!"

Claire and Sheila watched in amazement as another speaker was cued up next to them, broadcasting the voice of the narrator for the show. They clamped their hands down over their ears, hoping to drown out the noise. They turned, watching as Melanie poked her head around a nearby rock.

"Now…cue the monkeys!" Sheila and Claire turned toward their right, watching as the cast members standing by put on their neon monkey heads, climbing onto the raft and kicking on the motor, which was conveniently drowned out by the cries of the crowd. The girls watched as the raft slowly "floated" out into the main show area, the monkeys dancing to a jungle beat.

The show continued in this way for the rest of the fifteen minute run time it was allotted. Every time one part of the show seemed to be finished, Melanie would raise the walkie-talkie to her lips, barking another order: "cue the water projection screens; cue the lights," until finally, the grand moment arrived. "Cue the dragon! Now!"

Claire and Sheila watched in amazement as the dragon they had seen ten minutes earlier rose up onto the floor, making a spectacular appearance onstage, breathing fire and smoke. Claire turned to Sheila grinning. "Nice work on the bolts there Sheila."

Sheila giggled. "Nice work on your end too; those bolts look nice and tight." She paused. "Not like I can see them, but the dragon's working, so…" she turned to Claire. "Looks like we did pretty well for Disney cast member newbies."

"Yep."

The two girls looked at each other, grinning as they high-fived each other. "ALRIGHT!"


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N: **Again, major WIP progress here, so please bear with me.

* * *

"That was awesome!" Claire bounded around excitedly, her adrenaline pumping from watching Fantasmic. "That was soo cool! The dragon; the water projections; helping to _fix_ the dragon." She stared at Sheila excitedly. "We were part of it all!"

Sheila raised an eyebrow in amusement, smirking. "Wow Claire; I didn't think Disneyland could make you this excited."

"Are you kidding? That was awesome!"

Sheila laughed as Claire continued to bounce around. "You tired yet?"

"Hehehehe. Nope! Running on pure adrenaline!"

Sheila laughed, looking at her watch: almost nine – thirty. She looked around; Melanie should be back anytime. She had promised to take the girls back to New Orleans Square. Sheila looked around. "So…how do you think we're going to get back to the mainland?" She smirked, putting air quotes around the word "mainland."

"I don't know! But who…cares…" Claire stopped dancing, bending over panting, putting her hands on her knees. "Whew!" She took her hat off her head, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "Okay, _now_ I'm tired." She put her hat back on, sitting down on the ground next to the dock. "Um…the rafts, I guess. That would make the most sense."

"Yeah."

"Okay guys, ready to go back to New Orleans Square?" Melanie asked, walking up to the two girls.

Claire groaned, pushing herself up off the ground. "Yeah, we're ready. Right Sheila?"

Sheila yawned. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Okay. Hold on a minute." Melanie turned around, addressing a guy behind her. "Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you take over please? Make sure everybody gets back to New Orleans Square alright? I'm going to take these two back."

"Sure, no problem."

"Thanks." Melanie walked back over to the girls. "Come on; the rafts are over here."

Claire turned to Sheila, smirking. "Told you it would be the rafts."

Sheila rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Melanie laughed as she stepped on a nearby rock, jumping to the ground below. "Yeah, the rafts are the fastest way to get back to New Orleans Square. They're—"

"Hey Mel; where you guys going?"

Melanie turned around, eyeing Brad. "I'm taking Sheila and Claire back to shore."

"I'll come with you. A dark night like this, you girls could use some protecting." He casually slung an arm over Melanie's shoulder.

Melanie gently took his arm off her shoulder, glaring at him. "I'll let you go if you promise to stop hitting on me."

Brad rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine." He followed Melanie as she led them to the waiting rafts.

Melanie stopped at the rafts, unhitching the rope that blocked them off. "All aboard." Sheila and Claire walked on, with Brad bringing up the rear as Melanie re-hitched the rope. She looked at Sheila and Claire as they sat down. "You guys good?"

"Yeah, we're good," Sheila answered.

"Great. Let me just find the key and we'll be off. Brad, can you untie us from the dock please?"

"Sure thing."

Melanie dug around in her pockets, finally fishing out a key ring that was loaded down with keys.

"What are all those keys for?" Sheila asked.

"They're for everything at the park. All the secret doors, passages, and roundabouts we use to get from one point in the park to the other."

Claire nodded. "Cool."

"Yeah, it's cool. Unless you forget which key does what. Which happens a lot. That's why I label them." She held out a key, pointing to a label.

Sheila leaned over, peering at the label in the dim light. "Space Mountain control room. Wow!"

"Yep." Melanie smiled, walking over to the steering wheel of the raft, putting the key in the ignition. "I can go anywhere with these." She gently turned the key, causing the motor to roar to life. "And we're off!"

Brad walked over, draping an arm lazily over Melanie's shoulder. "It's such a beautiful night; quite romantic isn't it Mel?"

Melanie glared at him. "I told you; stop hitting on me."

"We're out at sea now sweetie; all bets are off." Melanie groaned as Brad leaned over her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "There you see her, sitting there across the wa—ow!" He recoiled immediately. "What did you do that for?"

She glared at him. "I said no hitting on me. Now go stand over there."

He put his hands up in surrender. "Alright. You don't want a little romance from the Brad, I can handle that. I'll just go do something else."

Melanie watched him go, turning apologetically to the girls. "Sorry about that."

Claire shrugged. "Eh. It's all good."

Sheila watched as Brad sat down in another corner of the raft, appearing to sulk. She giggled. "Is he always like that?"

"Afraid so. He hits on me and the rest of the girls that work here. Sometimes he goes away if we ignore him. Other times…" she glanced over at him. "Other times, he just won't quit. And if he's not hitting on us, he's playing pranks."

"Pranks?" Claire sat up straighter, pushing the brim of her hat up with a thumb. "What kind of pranks?"

Sheila shot her a look. "Claire, we're not going to help instigate a Disneyland prank."

"Why?"

"Because it could get us kicked out of the competition."

Claire scowled, pushing the hat over her eyes. "Fine."

Melanie laughed. "That's probably a good idea. He's a little too good with pranks. Actually, now that I think about it, it's not so much the pranks that are bad, it's the fact that he likes to use unsuspecting park guests in his pranks." She frowned, pulling into the dock. "They're not fond of it."

"So…that means he could use one of us?" Sheila asked.

Melanie smiled as she killed the engine. "No, I wouldn't let him do that to either of you." She patted a walkie talkie on her hip. "Another good reason to have these things." She stepped onto the dock, tying the raft up before ushering the girls out. "Well, that was fun. You two alright to get back to the hotel? I know it's late."

"We're fine," said Sheila.

"Yeah, no worries. We can take it from here," Claire chimed in.

"Okay great. I'd love to make sure you two made it to the parking lot alright, but I have to get back and make sure everything's cleaned up and ready for the next performance tomorrow night." She paused. "Are you sure you two are alright?"

Sheila laughed. "We're fine Melanie. And thanks for letting us sit backstage; it was really cool to see that."

"Yeah, especially since I'd never seen it before." Claire smiled. "It was fun."

Melanie grinned. "Thanks guys. Glad it was fun for you. Have fun with the rest of the challenge and if you need anything, just give me a call." She pulled a card out of her back pocket, writing a number on the back. "Here."

Claire took the offered card. "Will do."

"Well, bye guys. Stay out of trouble." Melanie winked as she hopped back on the raft.

"Bye Melanie." The girls waved as the raft made its way back to Pirates Lair.

"Come on, let's go back to the hotel," Sheila said.

"Sounds like a plan."


	22. Chapter 21

"Time to get up sleepyhead." Claire leaned over Sheila, waiting for her to open her eyes. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "Come on lazy ass; it's four in the afternoon." She smirked as Sheila very slowly opened one eye. "And you give me a bad time for sleeping in."

Sheila yawned. "What time did you say it was?"

"Four."

Sheila propped herself up on an elbow, her brain trying to puzzle out Claire's statement. She scratched her head lazily. "In the morning?"

"Nope!" Claire jumped off the bed, throwing the blinds open with a flourish. "Four in the afternoon!"

"Afternoon…? Four in the…" Sheila's eyes widened; she bolted upright. "Four in the afternoon?"

Claire laughed. "That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past ten minutes." She smirked. "You're a sound sleeper by the way; out like a light. Do you even remember me talking to you?"

Sheila bounced out of bed, running for the bathroom. "What's it matter? We have to hurry and get to the Park so we can hit our designated ride for the day!"

Claire raised an eyebrow, walking over to the bathroom door. "What's your hurry? The Park's open 'til midnight."

Sheila poked her head out of the bathroom. "It's not always open 'til midnight; sometimes it closes early. I came here with my Mom about three months ago and the park closed at eight."

"Seriously?" Claire scratched her head, looking around the room for the rulebook. Spotting it on Sheila's bed, she walked over, picking the book up and leafing through it. "You can't be serious."

"Dead serious; check the rulebook. It lists park times in the back. This may be a special event, but by keeping their usual hours, Disney is making it much more challenging for participants to hit their designated ride for the day."

Claire nodded to herself as she leafed through the rulebook. "Times, times, times…" when she couldn't find it, she hastily flipped to the front of the book, running her finger down the table of contents. "Ah, here it is, Park Times." She flipped to the very back. "What day is it again?"

"The third; the challenge started on the first of November, so it's only the third day."

"Okay." Claire scanned down the list of times for the park. "Oh, here it is." She found the date, running her finger across the page, over to the corresponding time. "Oh." She got up from the bed, yelling through the closed bathroom door. "You're right Sheila; the park closes at eight." She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "It's about four fifteen now. We need to be out of here soon."

Sheila flung the bathroom door open, dressed and ready to go. "All set! How about you?"

Claire picked her back-up up off the floor next to her bed. "I'm ready."

Sheila studied her friend for a moment. "Something's missing…oh, I know!" She walked over to Claire's bed, grabbing her hat off the night table, walking back over and holding it out to Claire. "Here."

Claire grinned, taking the hat from Sheila. "Thanks."

"Sure. Wouldn't feel right without it. True?"

"Yep. Let's go."

Sheila followed Claire out the door, headed down the hallway. "Hey Claire?"

"Yeah?"

"What ride are we going on today?"

"Um…hang on." Claire stopped, digging the crumpled list out of her back pocket. She smirked. "The Haunted Mansion."

Sheila grinned. "Awesome! I _love_ that ride!"

* * *

"Alright, what's the quickest route to The Haunted Mansion you think?" Claire and Sheila were standing outside City Hall, trying to plan the best route.

Sheila glanced down the lit up street. "I'd say through Adventureland and down to New Orleans Square is our best bet. We should hurry though; it could be packed this time of night."

"Alrighty." Claire followed Sheila as the two of them made their way down Main Street, dodging the usual strollers and automatic wheelchairs. Claire grumbled, but after yesterday, she was now used to the various strollers and wheelchairs and made sure to keep slightly ahead of them. For the most part. "Ow! Hey!"

Sheila smirked. "Got hit by another stroller?"

Claire grumbled, her voice low. "No. I got hit by a fucking automatic wheelchair. Seriously, do they not look where they're going?"

Sheila patted Claire's shoulder as they made their way into Adventureland, making their way past Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye.

Claire looked at the line for the ride. "Is that a good ride?"

Sheila stopped, looking where Claire was pointing. "Indiana Jones? Not sure; I've only been on it once and I didn't like it to much. It's kind of bumpy and jarring."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Sheila looked at the Indiana Jones ride before turning to head down to New Orleans Square.

"Hey, I just thought of something."

"What's that?"

"We haven't seen Brian and Mitzy in awhile."

Sheila scrunched up her face in concentration. "Oh yeah. We haven't, have we?"

"Nope."

"You think they're still in the running?"

"I don't know." Claire slammed her hat down over her eyes, mumbling to herself. "I pray to _god_ we don't see them."

Sheila raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I was just talking to myself."

"What about?"

Claire smirked as they neared the line for the Haunted Mansion. "Oh, nothing." She shot Sheila an apologetic look. "Sorry Sheila; kind of private."

"Oh. Okay." She stopped, glancing at the standby wait time for Haunted Mansion. "Sixty minute wait time." She glanced over toward the fast pass line; it wasn't much better.

"Standby line then?"

"Yep. Looks like it. Come on." Sheila led the way to the end of the line, Claire following behind her, digging her ipod out of her back pocket as she went. "Okay, here we…go…"

Claire paused, an ear bud in one ear, the other dangling down. "Sheila?" She studied her friend's face. "Sheila?" She waved a hand in front of her face. "Sheeila…hellloo." She smirked. "Anyone home in there?"

"Brian…" Sheila responded dreamily.

Claire took the ear bud out of her ear, hastily wrapping both the ear buds around the ipod before shoving it back in her pocket. "Brian?" Sheila pointed across the way; Claire followed where she pointing. She enough, there was Brian walking up to them, Mitzy in tow. Claire groaned, shoving her hat further over her eyes. "_Grrreeeaatt_."

Sheila shook her head, momentarily snapped out of her daze by Claire's annoyed tone. She rolled her eyes. "Seriously Claire; I know we've already had this conversation, but again, is Mitzy really that bad?" Claire opened her mouth to respond, shutting it rapidly as Brian and Mitzy walked up.

Brian beamed. "Hey girls; fancy meeting you here; you going on this ride too?"

Sheila grinned, sliding over to Brian. "Of course we are." She batted her eyelashes at him. "You know, a big scary Haunted Mansion like this, I may need protecting."

Claire covered her mouth, trying to hide her gag reflex. She swallowed, waiting for the reflex to stop before speaking. "Hey Brian. Yeah, we're going on this ride too." She forced a smile. "Figured we were bound to run into you two at some point."

Brian grinned, peeling Sheila off him. "Yeah; I figured that too. Mitzy feels a lot better than she did yesterday, so now she's back." He turned toward Mitzy. "Right Mitz?"

Mitzy rolled her eyes, boredly filing her nails. "Yeah." She held her nails out, studying them. "I feel much better. Just…bored." Sheila raised an eyebrow.

Claire smirked. "What's a matter Mitz? Disneyland to _boring_ for you?" She leaned against the rope that made up the line, jamming her hands in the pockets of her jeans, smirking. "I'll have you know that yesterday was far from boring." She gave Mitzy a triumphant look. "We went on Small World five times in a row—"

"Where the song was stuck in my head for what felt like the rest of the day," Sheila groaned.

"And then we had this amazing adventure on Tom Sawyer Island."

Brian raised an eyebrow. "Tom Sawyer Island? You mean Pirates Lair, right?"

"Yeah. Pirates Lair."

"It was awesome!" Sheila jumped in, picking up the story. "We were exploring Tom Sawyer Island—"

"Pirates Lair."

"Pirates Lair. And we went to this little kiddie play area where we spun this wheel around and around, bringing up a treasure chest and a dead pirate from a supposed shipwreck." Sheila paused, putting air quotes around the word shipwreck. "Then we went on this suspension bridge where _somebody_…" she glared at Claire. "Where _somebody_ decided to jump on the suspension bridge when you're not supposed to, thus making me sick."

"Yeah! It was awesome!" Claire chimed back in. "The puke almost hit a little kid!"

"_Ewww_!" Mitzy squealed. She glared at Claire. "You're disgusting Daniels."

Claire smirked. "Not as disgusting as some people I can't stand." She laughed at the confused expression on Mitzy's face before turning back to Brian. "Anyways…I was sorry for my actions and after Sheila recovered—"

Sheila laughed nervously, shoving Claire. "We won't talk about that part." She glared at Claire. "Anyway, we were sitting on a bench when we realized that it was seven-thirty and that was the time the last raft was headed back to New Orleans Square."

"So we ran and ran and ran to the dock, but when we got there, the raft had already left and then we were stranded."

"So then we decided to go to Fort Wilderness, but it was closed—"

"It was?" Brian scratched his head. "Man, I thought that place was always open."

"That's what we thought too, but when we got there, it was closed." Claire paused. "We looked for a door around the back, but couldn't find anything. Well, we're standing there debating what to do next when we see light in the distance."

Sheila jumped in. "Turns out it was the Disney cast members, who use Fort Wilderness as a place to change into their costumes and a place to store things like the giant crocodile used in Fantasmic and all the fireworks used in the show."

Claire grinned. "We ended up inside the Fort after the cast members opened it and we thought we were busted, but we ran into Melanie, this cast member we'd met before."

Brian nodded, smiling at Claire. "Oh yeah. I remember you telling me that Claire; you and Sheila danced in the High School Musical Three Right Here Right Now parade once right? And Melanie was the cast member you met?"

"Yes to both questions." Claire smiled. "So then—"

Sheila jumped in again. "So then we talked to the Melanie and Brad for a while and then…" she paused for dramatic effect, almost squealing when she spoke again. "Then we got to go with them and see everything behind the scenes! We even got to help with the Maleficient dragon!"

Claire nodded. "Yeah. It was really cool; the way they pull everything off is _amazing_."

"Then, after that, we had to get back to New Orleans Square, so Melanie gave us a lift back to shore on the raft. Then we went back to the hotel." Sheila finished.

"Yep! And that was our night." Claire smiled as the line moved forward. "Impressed?"

"No," stated Mitzy. "How do we even know you were telling the truth? I mean, for all Brian and I know, you could have dreamt the whole thing." She leered at Claire, getting in her face. "Or you're just a big fat liar."

Claire scowled. "I'm not lying and neither is Sheila. We're telling the truth."

"Yeah. We did all those things last night."

Mitzy shrugged her shoulder, walking off as the line continued to move forward. Sheila leaned over to Claire, whispering in her ear. "I think I'm beginning to see why you don't like Mitzy."

"See? I _told_ you!"

"I told you what?" Both girls jumped at the question, staring at Brian. They had forgotten he was standing there.

Claire thought fast. "Oh, I had been telling Sheila earlier that The Haunted Mansion wasn't scary, but she didn't believe me."

"Wha-?" Sheila jumped as Claire elbowed her in the ribs. "Oh right!" She turned to Claire. "I don't think the Haunted Mansion is as scary as I thought it was." She shot Claire a confused look.

"See? I told you," Claire said. She turned to Brian. "Yeah, she was scared."

Brian looked at Sheila. "Really? Sheila, the Haunted Mansion isn't scary." He paused, appearing to think about something. "I'll ride with you if you want. Um…that way, you won't be scared." Claire stifled a laugh as she felt Sheila melt into a puddle next to her.

Sheila stared at Brian blankly, not sure what to do. "I…I…I would love that," she finally managed to squeak out.

"Great. Um…you can stand next to me if you want." Sheila beamed, practically floating over to stand next to Brian as the line moved through the graveyard.

Claire stifled a laugh, shaking her head. She looked at the pair, trying to determine if this was a good move on her part or not. She smirked, sidling up to Mitzy, who was looking at Brian and Sheila with a confused expression on her face.

Mitzy pointed her nail file in the direction of the Sheila and Brian. "What's with them?"

Claire crossed her arms, fighting back a smirk. "Oh, Sheila said she was scared of the ride, so Brian volunteered to ride with her."

"Oh." Mitzy went back to filing her nails. Suddenly she stopped, slowly looking up at Claire. "Oh god."

"Yup. Looks like you're stuck with me Mitz."

A look of horror crossed Mitzy's face. "Oh _god_! I'm stuck with you!"


	23. Chapter 22

"Don't touch me Daniels!" Mitzy snapped as the four of them were crammed into the foyer of the Haunted Mansion.

Claire snarled. "Yeah. I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole." She smirked in the dark. "I'd never be able to get that cheerleader stink off me." She studied Mitzy, who for some reason was wearing her school cheerleading uniform. "Why the hell do you wear that stupid uniform outside of school anyway?"

Mitzy stamped her foot in annoyance. "It's my identity!"

Claire stopped, momentarily forgetting her next come-back. Her voice softened. "Your identity?"

Mitzy snarled. "Forget it; I'm not telling you."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Everybody inside please! We need everybody in; scoot in as far as you can!" Claire scooted in further, stiffening as she touched Mitzy's shoulder.

Mitzy growled. "One move Daniels."

"Bite me. I'm barely touching you." Claire craned her neck around, noticing Sheila cuddled next to Brian. She rolled her eyes. "Ugh."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems, in a place that perhaps, you've seen in your dreams. For the story that you are about to be told, began with the holiday worlds of old. I know you're curious, to see what's inside, it's what happens when two holidays…_collide_."

Claire watched as the doors to the stretching room opened. She inched forward, reluctantly looking back to make sure Mitzy was near her as she walked across the threshold into the stretching room.

Mitzy huffed behind her. "Where you going Daniels? Can't we just stay here?" She lazily leaned against one of the walls.

Claire rolled her eyes, grabbing Mitzy by the elbow and yanking her to the middle of the room. "No stupid; you're not allowed to stand near the walls; the room stretches."

Mitzy huffed, shaking Claire's hand away and going to lean against one of the walls. "What's that got to do with the walls?"

Claire thumped her hand against her hat in annoyance. "Because it's…" she stopped, an idea occurring to her. "You can't lean against the walls because if you do, one of the ghosts will pop through the wall and take you with him."

Mitzy's eyes widened. "N-no, he won't. You're lying."

"Am I?" Claire walked over to Mitzy, discreetly snaking her hand around behind her, jabbing her in the back. "BOO!"

"EEK!" Mitzy squealed, running to the middle of the room as the door shut behind them. Claire laughed out loud at the scared look on Mitzy's face, smirking as the ghost host came on, introducing the holiday tale.

_Welcome, my friends, to our Christmas delight.  
__Come witness a ghoulishly glorious sight._

_It's time for our holiday tale to begin,  
__There's no turning back now,  
__Please, come all the way in._

_Our holiday tale, is a tale that's quite charming,  
__But during this season, it's sometimes alarming._

The room began to stretch, slowly revealing the darker side of the so called "cheery" portraits, only to shudder to a stop, the lights in the portraits going out.

Claire looked around, squinting through the darkness. "Sheila? Brian?" She reached out her hand. "Mitzy?"

"Over here Daniels." Mitzy rolled her eyes. "Like I would ever think of moving."

Claire fought back a groan, watching as the park guests seemed to huddle together for protection. "Brian? Sheila?"

"Behind you Claire."

Claire turned around, just barely able to make out Sheila and Brian's forms in the dark. "Thank god." She walked over to them. "Seriously, being stuck with Miss Scaredy cat over there is a pain."

"Aw, come on man; she's not that bad," Brian said.

"Maybe not to you," Claire mumbled under her breath.

"So what do you think is going on?" Sheila asked.

Claire smirked. "What? You don't know? I thought you were the Disneyland Park expert."

"Haha, you're funny. I may have been to Disneyland hundreds of times, but this is the first time this has happened." Sheila paused. "While I was here anyway. I mean, I've heard rumors about why it stops, but I've never really paid attention."

"Rumors? What rumors?"

Sheila smirked. "I'm not telling you."

"Oh come on! I've had to put up with Mitzy, with all her shit and now you're not going to tell me?" Claire grumbled. "Some friend you are."

"Man, she was just—"

"It's okay Brian; she does this all the time." Sheila smirked. "Relax Claire; I only don't want to tell you because you'll go overboard with it."

"No I won't."

"Promise?"

"Well…."

"Claaiire."

Claire grumbled, shoving her hat down over her eyes. "Fine. I promise. Now spill."

"Okay." Sheila leaned over to Claire, whispering conspiratorially in her ear. "I've heard that the ride stops because people get caught doing it in here."

"Really?" Sheila slapped her on the shoulder. "Hey!"

"Shhh! Not so loud!"

"Do you really think?"

"I don't know; I mean…" Sheila paused, trying to find the right words. "Don't you think we would have…you know….heard…something?"

"People do it quietly."

"Yes, but don't you thi—"Sheila blinked as the lights snapped on, flooding the room with a bright light. She started as a cast member appeared out of nowhere.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please, stay right where you are. The hydraulics on the elevator have broken; we cannot go up or down at this time. Please stand by and we will be assisting you shortly. Again, do not lean against the walls." As quickly as he had appeared, he was gone.

Sheila shuddered. "Anyone else feel a little weirded out?"

Claire raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"The fact that that cast member just came out of nowhere."

Claire shrugged, pushing the brim of her hat up with a thumb. "Eh. We know there's tunnels around here; he probably went through one of those doors we saw."

"Oh yeah!"

Mitzy walked over, filing her nails boredly. "Ugh. Are we ever going to get out of here? I'm ready to get off this stupid ride."

Claire smirked in amusement. "What's the matter Mitz? Not scared anymore?"

Mitzy stuck her tongue out. "I don't get scared. Now move." She shouldered past Claire, headed toward one of the walls.

"Hey! I told you no leaning—"

Sheila put a hand on Claire's arm. "Let it go Claire"

"But—"

Sheila motioned toward Mitzy. "Look, she's not leaning against the wall, so stop getting so annoyed at her."

"Fine." Claire stuffed her hands into her pockets, looking around. "So how long do you thin—" She was cut off as the door they had passed through earlier opened. Except this time, it was up above them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, help is here." A cast member and what looked like several Disney maintainence workers peered over the edge. "The only way out of here is through this door—"

"Not necessarily." Claire looked behind her, noticing the entrance to the portrait hallway was right below them, half obscured by the stretching room. She nudged Sheila. "We could just get out through there…" She stopped as Sheila shot her a look. "What?"

"I'm trying to listen."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"Now, everyone try to form a line and we will be throwing down a rope ladder. Just climb up it and we will have you out of here as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience and will be fixing the ride shortly." He paused. "Once everyone is off, of course."

"Grreeat…" Claire watched as the park guests started lining themselves up. She sighed. "This is gonna take a while."

* * *

Mitzy looked out at the park guests as each one slowly made their way up the rope ladder one by one. She studied her nails, glaring across the way at Claire. "Stupid Daniels; trying to boss me around by telling me where to stand, saying I can't stand against the walls." She went to lean against the wall, then jumped back. "I-I don't want that hand to come back." She slowly turned toward the wall, watching it intently. "Stupid Daniels; she was probably just bluff—IIINNNGGG!"

Mitzy screamed as something grabbed her from behind, yanking her through the wall, the paneling sliding shut with a dull thud.


	24. Chapter 23

"Okay, last three out." The Disney cast member pointed at the three remaining park guests below him. "One at a time please."

"Three?" Claire looked around. "Wait a sec."

"What's wrong Claire?" Sheila looked over her shoulder as she prepared to grasp the rope dangling in front of her.

"Mitzy. She's not in here."

"What do you mean she's not in here? She has to be in here."

"Sheila I'm telling you; she's not in here."

"Man, she probably just slipped out when they were hauling everyone out," Brian piped up.

"But, how would that be possible?" Sheila let go of the rope, much to the annoyance of the cast member above.

"Hey! You three! Climb up the rope! We have to get everybody out of here before we can fix the elevator!"

"Just a second!" Sheila yelled up. "We're missing one of our friends!"

"_Friends_?" Claire raised an eyebrow. "She's not my friend."

"Claiiree.."

"Fine."

Brian scratched his head. "So…maybe we should look for her then?"

"But where would we start?" asked Sheila. "There could be several hidden doorways and panels in this place. It's massive."

"Do we even have to find her?" Claire asked with a smirk. "I mean, if we don't find her, we'll be ahead of the game." She froze under Sheila's withering look. "Um…I'm gonna stop talking now."

"Good idea."

"Okay, you have until the count of three to grab onto the rope and let us haul you out," the cast member shouted. "Otherwise, we're leaving you in here!"

Sheila looked between Claire and Brian. "Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm staying here to look for Mitzy. I know Disneyland better than anybody, so I'd know where to look. Besides, if Mitzy gets left behind, we can kiss the Disney Geeks United Club good-bye." She put her hands on her hips. "Who's with me?"

Claire growled, shoving her hat down over her eyes. "Fine. I'll help you look for that no good, nail filing—"

"Thank you Claire. Brian?" Sheila batted her eyes, walking over to Brian and walking her fingers up his arm. "Pwetty pwease. Come wit us."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Gag me." She grabbed Sheila by the arm, hauling her off Brian. "So Bri, you coming or not?"

"No way man. If I so much as give up on this challenge, Mitzy will kill me. I'm out."

"Final warning!" The cast member called down.

Brian looked at Sheila and Claire before grabbing onto the rope. "Later guys." He looked up. "Haul me up!"

Claire watched as Brian was pulled up the side of the elevator, helped to the top by the cast member, the rope slowly disappearing as it was pulled in. "Heh. What a wuss." She smirked at Sheila. "So…what do you think of your knight in shining armor now?"

Sheila sighed dreamily. "He's wonderful."

"Ugh. Come on." Claire grabbed Sheila's hand, dragging her along as she slipped through the hole in the elevator that led to the portrait corridor.

* * *

"So then, I was like 'I hate you Daniels' and she was like 'bite me.'"

"So did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Bite her?"

Mitzy wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ew no. Why would I bite Daniels? I hate her."

Brad laughed. "I like you; you're full of spunk. You doing anything after this challenge?"

"I'm not dating you if that's what you're asking."

Brad groaned. "Strike two."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Brad! Brad, where are you? We're supposed to be setting up for Fantasmic in about two hours! BRAD!"

Brad groaned at the crackle of static of his walkie talkie as he took it out of his holster. "What's up Mel? Miss me?"

"Okay, for the last time, it's _Melanie_ and secondly, where are you?"

"Mmm…that depends. Where are you?"

"Pirates Lair. Which is where you should be. Half an hour ago!"

Brad smirked. "What's a matter Mel? Can't do anything without me?"

"Oh, I can do plenty of things without you. The only reason I'm calling you now is because we're set to go on in two hours and you're not here. I'm your Superior remember?"

"Relax Mel. I got it covered. I'll be there in a minute. I just have to take care of something first."

There was a pause at the other end of the walkie talkie. "Brad…" Melanie's voice was cautious. "Just where exactly are you?"

"No sweat Mel; I'm at the Haunted Mansion. Sitting in the control room." He could swear he heard Melanie roll her eyes.

"Alright, who are you pranking now? Haven't you scared enough innocents?"

"There's nothing wrong with a little prank Mel."

"Come on Brad; who's the target?"

"Oh, just two certain girls who have been wandering on the park and going on rides repeatedly for a certain challenge…" he grinned evilly.

Dead silence on the end of the walkie-talkie. Then…

"Brad, if you do anything to scare those girls—"

Brad rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to scare them to bad. Just a little."

"Brad, you—hello? Hello? Brad, you there? Come in Brad? BRAD!"

Brad smirked as he nonchalantly clicked the walkie-talkie off, his finger hovering over a switch on the control panel as he turned to Mitzy. "Now, where were we?"


End file.
